Much has been written and spoken in the past 24 hours about Mayor Rob Ford's refusal to appear in Toronto's Pride Day parade Jul 3rd. It's been noted that appearances in the parade by the mayor have been pro-forma for a decade and that Ford was the only serious candidate for the office who did not walk in last year's parade.
That may be so - I saw only a small portion of the 2010 parade and that was with a very obstructed view.
However, Rob Ford and his team did think campaigning on Church St after the parade was a worthwhile use of their time. Whether it was Rob or his brother, I can't say (I don't fault myself for my inability to tell the two of them apart1 ). I do know I had to dodge one of their fat fists to avoid having a Ford for Mayor sticker slapped on my chest. Maybe whoever it was felt safe near a middle-aged white man wearing a polo shirt and straw hat. Maybe I looked like a suburbanite who might vote for him. Maybe I should have been wearing a "I Live in Markham" button.
Whatever, the point is that Ford or his brother and the campaign team managed to make it to Pride, even though it was held at the end of the Canada Day holiday weekend (early return from the Muskoka cottage?) when it was thought he needed the votes. Once elected, he sees no need to celebrate with the hundreds of thousands of gay, lesbian and straight voters who think Pride is just about the best party the city sees each year. "Vote for me now so I can snub you later" seems to be the shameful credo.
- It could have been a doppelganger but I'm very certain it was a Ford. The whole campaign team cannot have been tall, blonde and obese.↩
