I confess that I am not a Torontonian. Rather, after more than fourteen years living in Montreal I’m almost at the point where I could safely call myself a Montréalais.

So the challenge of loving Mayor Rob Ford isn’t my particular challenge. Rather, the newly elected Denis Coderre is my challenge – because no, I did not vote for him!

Nevertheless, the question of loving Rob Ford is a huge question these days, both for Torontonians and the rest of us across the country.

It seems safe to say that the number of those who love Rob Ford has been in precipitous decline in the past few weeks. Though is also fair to say that there has been large constituency of Ford-mockers and Ford-haters out there for some time. Over the past two years they have made a regular appearance on my Facebook feed, as well as in plenty of other spaces.

This weekend, the whole question of love him or hate him was brought to mind by three tweets by Tabatha Southey, who is a writer for the Globe and Mail. In the first tweet she referenced a Toronto Star article that explores the challenges and possibilities of rehab – where Rob Ford is expected/hoped to end up in the coming weeks: Continue reading →