Democratically elected Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has been ousted by a Canadian judiciary determined to take it upon themselves to dictate to Canadians as to who we wish to have govern us. At least that’s the spin, and it’s not so far from the truth, that the Ford supporters are putting forward. In fact, the judiciary were using minimum penalty guidelines established by that very same elected body, the Toronto council. But should any Canadians vote be negated in this way, let alone thousands?
This is really about the foolishness of mandatory minimum sentences. It takes discretion out of the hands of judges and into the realm of stupidity. Obviously the odious Mr. Ford didn’t deserve to be ousted as Mayor for this particular reason (there's plenty of other reasons) but that’s the nature of mandatory sentences. The rules are there to be followed without question even though questioning the rules is a fundamental right of a free and democratic society. This doesn’t work. We're not Iran.
It is fascinating to watch, however, how the neo-con right, the big believers in law and order, always suddenly become victims of the courts when one of theirs is caught with his hand in the till. They show no mercy for others but cry for mercy when they get caught, even to the point of disparaging and bringing contempt down upon the courts and judges.
I listened to some National Post Editor saying how she would have ruled differently with the evidence in front of her, thereby suggesting that the judge was either incompetent or unethical, even though as a layman she had no legal background whatsoever. Imagine the reaction of these same people if a Stanley Cup rioter were to suggest such a thing!
Also one other question needs answering….if I rob a bank but use the money to fundraise for charity is this okay? Even though this is not the reason that Rob Ford lost his job, it’s just a red herring put forward by his supporters to detract from the issue of conflict of interest, it still has a serious flaw in its logic. Since when can you cry that it was for the right reason that you did wrong? Especially when you were given ample opportunity to correct the mistake but stubbornly refused to do so.
At some point this is a matter of taking ‘personal responsibility’ just like the law and order fanatics always demand from the rest of us. But never for themselves.
