For those of you haven't heard, Toronto mayor Rob Ford has been under extreme fire after being accused of smoking crack. He eventually admitted to using the illegal drug, but by then allegations and videos had surfaced ranging from alcoholism to assault. Yet he refuses to step down from office. One might think, "Don't worry, he admitted to breaking the law and doing drugs, surely he'll get fired." Well think again. No matter how immoral we might find his actions, according to Toronto Law he can't be fired unless he is convicted for a crime, which he has yet to be.
Now, this being said, he is a politician. Which means he relies on the vote of the people to stay in power. So while he might not be able to be fired at the moment, it is doubtful his public image will survive these scandals enough to allow him to be reelected.
Here's my sources but with any google search you can find more:
http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2013/11/19/rob-ford-cockroach-leaders/
http://www.torontosun.com/2013/10/31/province-cant-removed-from-mayor-rob-ford-from-office-unless-convicted
A strange thing about this is that he was actually a pretty good mayor. Under his term he fulfilled a campaign promise of cutting an automotive registration tax and making TTC a designated "essential service", successfully balanced the budget without raising taxes, and increased city revenue that led to a surplus and the funding of extra city projects. That's a lot more than a lot of sober politicians have done here in the states. Even after the drug stuff came out, Rob Fords approval rating was over 40%. To what extent do we permit bad behavior when we get a positive benefit from it?
ReplyDeleteTo Kevin's point, I think we as a society do give leniency when we get something out of it. Its very give and take. That being said, I dont think that is the best way to go about policing the leaders. They all need to be held just as accountable as any civilian. If he was in the corporate world I have no doubt that he would have lost his job over the ordeal. Yes we should reward people for good work but not with leniency when it comes to the law.
ReplyDeleteTo touch on a couple points from each comment:
ReplyDeleteFirst to Gus's last point that politicians should be held to the same respect as a regular civilian under the law, I totally agree with that but Rob Ford was being treated in the same way as a regular civilian. Yes he admitted to the drug use and had videos ranging from alcoholism to assault, but it means nothing unless he is convicted of something. However it would be just the same for a regular civilian under the same circumstances, they could admit to all of that but unless convicted it doesn't mean much.
Secondly to touch on Kevin's point about how Rob Ford has done a lot of good with the cities budget and such. I do believe that we give a leniency to leaders who are a little out there but produce big time. The first example that pops into my mind is Steve Jobs, he was totally out there and very rude and demanding of almost everyone around him but he put out big big results in the technology industry from Apple to Pixar. I believe people have a tolerance for craziness and being a little out there if it produces in their favor. (thought you would like the apple reference Gus)