As a city Councillor he was infamous for his outspoken and badly measured rants.

For instance, Ford argued against spending money on the suicide prevention barrier on the Bloor Viaduct, and spending it instead on rounding up child molesters “who are the main cause of people jumping off bridges”. Now there’s a well thought out argument. But then on the other hand Ford proposed a cut to Councillor’s $200,000 office budget and money for travel to conferences, ending city limousine usage and club memberships. According to Ford, “if we wiped out the perks for council members, we’d save $100 million easy”.

Following on from that Ford made a point of not using his allotted city budget for his office expenses, paying for the expenses from his own salary. He claimed $10 for his first year, and $4 for his second year. In Ford’s opinion, “all this office budget stuff is self-promotion to benefit yourself. Why should the taxpayers have to pay for it? It boggles my mind”. You see, all of a sudden he’s like a Canadian Robin Hood. It’s when you hear things like that you realise why he was voted in to power in the first place.

Also in his favour was his contactability. Most politicians at any level like to keep a healthy distance from the stench of normal folks. Ford is a different breed. He would answer calls and phone constituents that had a problem, personally. Now that’s rare. He actually gave out his mobile number when he was a Councillor and as mayor.

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