In (small) defense of Rob Ford

2011 Photograph by Tara Walton, for the Toronto Star.

The big news from City Hall last week was Rob Ford's "conflict of interest" hearing, where "star" lawyer Clayton Ruby grilled him on the stand, trying to convince the judge that Toronto's mayor had violated the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. If the judge finds Mayor Ford "guilty", the minimum penalty is his removal from office.

Now, I'm not a lawyer. Additionally, I will tell you that Rob Ford was not my choice for mayor. However, in my opinion, I feel that the potential punishment against Ford does not match the "crime" he committed. I certainly think he should be punished, but that removing him from office would be extreme. Let me lay out what I know to be true about this case:

1. While a councillor, the defendant solicited donations to a charity being run by the Toronto Community Foundation (the "foundation" bears the defendant's name, but he does not run it), from lobbyists and corporate donors. The defendant used city letterheads to do so.
2. The integrity commissioner for the city warned the defendant that such activity was improper, and that the defendant should repay the donors. The defendant didn't repay the donors, arguing that the money went to charity (note: by this point, the defendant had become the mayor of the city).
3. The issue was brought forward to city council, and in February of 2012, he spoke to and then voted to overturn the "order" from council to repay the money (the vote was passed, 22 to 12). A few points: a) the motion didn't require his vote to pass (and he probably didn't need to speak to it either); b) he did not declare a "conflict of interest" on this vote; and c) this is the action that the defendant is on trial for.

I think that last point is key here. We're not debating whether Rob Ford improperly solicited donations from lobbyists. We're not debating whether Rob Ford's vision for Toronto is bad for cyclists and pedestrians. We're not, as much as many of his enemies want to, debating whether Rob Ford is a bad mayor. Certainly, the "solicitation of donations" is the "conflict of interest", but in my opinion, there needs to be some nuance to the punishment.

There's been some impulse if you read the comments section of any major paper here in Toronto, that "finally, we can kick this horrible person out of office". That we can punish him for reading while driving, punish him for the Port Lands fiasco, and punish him for "ending" the war on the car by removing the "Vehicle Registration Tax", no matter how effective it may have been.

Was what Ford did, wrong? Yes. unquestionably so. Does Ford realize that (even if he didn't, at the time)? Yes. But is "removal from office" fair punishment?

Even if we have an issue with the election process (or perhaps more accurately, who was elected), we still have to respect the process. One of the main reasons we have elections is to give legitimacy to the individuals who win. To remove someone from office, the reasons (in my opinion) need to be severe enough to break that legitimacy. We're not talking about having to leave office for reasons of illness or death; rather, it's felt the politician has abused their power for personal gain, so much so that the only removal from office is considered an appropriate punishment.

As any critic of mandatory minimum sentencing knows, not all crimes are worth putting a blanket sentence over. Mandatory sentences remove the ability of a judge to use the nuances of the case to punish an individual as the actual offense might entail. I feel the same way about the punishment dictated by the Municipal Conflict Act; there's just too big a gap between the "minimum" punishment, and no punishment at all.

As I said before, I'm not against punishing Rob Ford for what he did; I just disagree that his "crime" (voting on a matter he had an interest in that was going to pass in his favour anyway, in regards to his soliciting donations from lobbyists for an arms-length charity) is worth kicking him out of office. If the Municipal Conflict Act had an option to fine (such as by forcing him to pay the $3150 he was told to pay back) or otherwise punish Mayor Ford -- short of removing him from office -- I would be cool with that.

A few people I've talked to have worried that not punishing him will create a precedence. I don't see it; a precedence for what? Soliciting donations to an arms-length charity (and again: not really even what he did "wrong")? Ford is taking a pounding from both sides of the media over this (remember: all he had to do was not vote on a matter he was going to "win" anyway to avoid all of this). Coupled with the headache that Hurricane Hazel is dealing with over in Mississauga, any future "loose cannon" on council is going to take the "councillors handbook" to heart when to declare a conflict of interest to heart.

The only way Ford comes out "on top" in this is, ironically, if the judge decides that what the mayor did was worth kicking him out of office. If that happens, expect him to start campaigning early for the next election, backed by the same wave of sympathy (over such things as his weight and minor criminal matters in the United States) that helped elect him in the first place.

Let's respect the democratic process, and "punish" the man for what he's on trial for, not the culmination of offenses (perceived or otherwise). It might be irritating to let Mayor Ford "off" for this offense, but if the choices are between "not punishing him" and "kicking him out of office", then I can't in good conscious recommend the latter. If you want Rob Ford to lose his job as mayor, then do it the democratic way: vote him out in the next election.