Rob Ford put his personal interests above the people he was elected to serve

The decision by Superior Court Justice Charles Hackland to remove Toronto Mayor Rob Ford from office – for violating Ontario’s Municipal Conflict of Interest laws – finally shows the people of Canada’s largest municipality that wealthy, well-connected politicians are not above the law and they can’t ignore it.

It’s ironic that Ford who ran on campaign of cleaning up the city’s finance and stopping wasteful spending, finds himself turfed from office because he refused to pay back lobbyists for donations he improperly accepted.  As ironic as it may be, it’s also unfortunate that if a by-election is held to replace Ford it will cost residents of the city over $7 million.

Contrary to what he has said in the past, Ford, by his words and actions, has shown that he placed his personal interests above those of the people he was elected to serve.  In his decision, Justice Hackland stated, “In view of the respondent's leadership role in ensuring integrity in municipal government, it is difficult to accept an error in judgment defence based essentially on a stubborn sense of entitlement.”

Justice Charles Hackland’s decision appears to disqualify Ford from running in any by-election held before the regularly scheduled October 2014 mayoral election, but  would allow him to run for office again in 2014. 

For Torontonians let us hope whoever fills the office of mayor, either through appointment or by election will  work with the city council and act in the best interest of the city, which is something Rob Ford failed to do.