Andrew Coyne: elitism vs. Ford Nation

In the struggle between the elites and the populists – as personified by Toronto’s embattled mayor, Rob Ford, and his Ford Nation supporters - the National Post’s Andrew of the well-heeled Coyne family takes the side of the elites:

“And of all his enablers, the most culpable are the strategists, the ones who fashioned his image as the defender of the little guy, the suburban strivers, against the downtown elites, with their degrees and their symphonies — the ones who turned a bundle of inchoate resentments into Ford Nation. Sound familiar? It is the same condescending populism, the same aggressively dumb, harshly divisive message that has become the playbook for the right generally in this country, in all its contempt for learning, its disdain for facts, its disrespect of convention and debasing of standards.” 

Hmm. Sounds like Canada’s populists are pretty dumb.

But then again, by any objective standards, Rob Ford has been Toronto’s best mayor. Why do I say that? Look at the record. The current City of Toronto was amalgamated in 1998. In that time, we have had three mayors: Mel Lastman, David Miller and Rob Ford. In terms of greatness, I would rate them this way: OK, awful and good – respectively.

Why would I rate Ford as good? Forget about his personal life for a moment and look only at his public record: he eliminated the car tax, eliminated the plastic bag tax, he balanced the budget, he privatized half of Toronto’s garbage collection, he took many steps to clean up the corruption at Metro Housing caused by Miller’s cronies, and he browbeat a Scarborough Subway extension out of the subway-hating Ontario Liberals. 

Which other mayor can match this record? Not Lastman; and certainly not David Miller, whose reign was an unenviable string of failures and screw-ups. From Miller’s war on the car (i.e. the tax-paying commuter), to the unnecessary cancellation of the island bridge (which triggered contractual penalties that Porter Airlines used to purchase its initial aircraft fleet), to his bungling of garbage collection (each one of his decisions in this regard seemed to have been designed to increase costs, add complexity and reduce efficiency), to his neglect of subways, and to his insane fetish for streetcars (the most inefficient and inflexible means of public transit known to man), which resulted in his neighbourhood-killing St Clair Avenue streetcar right-of-way, David Miller was a sober, respectable catastrophe.

So between a knuckle-ragging Ford Nation Neanderthal like me and a well-bred elitist like you Andrew, this is why Rob Ford generates such strong residual good will among Toronto’s residents. We don’t care if he isn’t respectable in the eyes of Jon Stewart.

In contrast, none of the personal failures and ‘criminal activities’ that Coyne catalogues have any direct bearing on his job. Underlying all the salacious details Coyne provides is this fact: at the time of this writing, Ford has not been charged with (let alone convicted of) any crime, and that many of the criminal activities that Coyne lists are guilt-by-associations (assuming that they are true in the first place).

But Coyne’s article and my response raises a larger question: where is the truth ultimately to be found, among the elites or among the populists? Who can you trust more? 

The correct answer to this question is that no group of people is a reliable repository of truth. On some things, the elites are right, on others, the populists are right. It all depends on the issue and the circumstance.

What we can however be sure of is that one of the great strengths possessed by free societies like Canada (at least for the time being) is that our elites enjoy no monopoly, and that they can be replaced over time. The great strength of our country is that we are governed by conflict – free-market competition, political competition and an adversarial legal system – not by an org chart, like the Soviet Union or the Assyrian Empire. This ensures that nobody becomes complacent and that truth can be a useful ally of the underdog.

Recently I find myself sympathizing more with the populists than the elites. This is because the centralization of today’s society has swollen the power of today’s elites to unhealthy extremes. One would expect a small government advocate like Andrew Coyne to appreciate that.

Comments

[Stan]

All Ford needs to do to get the media dogs on his side is to announce he is on a hunger strike, hell it worked for Chief Lardass when she was under fire for the financial mismangement on her reserve.
And we've seen you can eat all you want on a hunger strike, it's not like the media have brains or eyes...

[Robert]

We have included your post in our 'Around the Blogs' section at looniepolitics.com.
Have you considered including Loonie Politics as one of your favourite websites?

[chaos111_99]

All I can say to Coyne and the elites is read this and weep.

Ford a star at Argos game

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2013/11/17/ford-a-star-at-argos-game

[Ted B]

You make two classic mistakes here.

1. That someone is either an elite or a populist. Ford shows you can be both an elistist and populist. But most of us ordinary folk are or strive to both intelligent and emotional about issues and life, principled and popular. The world is not black and white and people are not one thing or another.

2. That those who oppose Ford are elitist and those who support him populist. Only 20% or so support him now, and 70%+ think he should resign, so his support is now reduced to a shrinking group of fanatical and blinded partisans, who are in no position whatsoever to judge truth.

[Nicola T.]

Yes the elites have really raised standards with their undermining of the family and public education. Not to mention their thuggish treatment of anyone who doesn't agree with them on immigration, climate change, etc.

[Ted B]

"Why would I rate Ford as good? Forget about his personal life for a moment and look only at his public record: he eliminated the car tax, eliminated the plastic bag tax, he balanced the budget, he privatized half of Toronto’s garbage collection, he took many steps to clean up the corruption at Metro Housing caused by Miller’s cronies, and he browbeat a Scarborough Subway extension out of the subway-hating Ontario Liberals."

Excuse me but you are forgetting his increased spending, record-breaking spending, in every year since he took over. We are spending almost $200 million more than under Miller.

You are forgetting the record breaking debt of $1.5 billion he is adding for those useless subways that serve fewer people at much great cost to the city. One. And. A. Half. Billion. Dollars. In. Debt.

To say nothing about the wasted millions on cancelled contracts, moving bike lanes a block, and now he is going to sue the city for doing what he says he would have done if he was a councillor.

We don't have to consider his illegal and dangerous conduct while mayor to determine he's been a disaster as mayor. But if that is what it takes to save the finances of the city, then I'm for it.

[Copinacus]

Well done. Living in the boonies, I am amazed that almost all those I have any respect for have drunk this elitist koolade. Is there something in the air over there?

[Alberta Dude]

Is it elitist to want a mayor that does not use crack or have drunken stupors? Do we have no standards at all? Would you give this guy a job reference and vouch for his character?

[WiseGuy]

Public opinion polls are fleeting things. When a little time passes, and the voters get a good look at Ford's competition, a little misbehavior on his off time and some bad language are going to look pretty tame.

If I were an elitist politician, I would lay off of Ford. Even those supporters who have now decided to abandon the Mayor, are unlikely to throw their support behind a Ford enemy.

Look to see a lot of new faces in council after the next election.

[Cincinnatus]

Dear Alberta Dude:

I do indeed have standards.

I like not paying David Miller's car tax any more. As a commuter battling my way through Toronto's hellish traffic jams, I like the fact that there is no longer a war on cars. As a Scarborough resident, I like the fact that a Scarborough Subway will now be built. As a Torontonian I like the fact that Ford has cracked down on corruption at Metro Housing. These are issues that affect me directly in a material way. These are my standards.

Whether Ford is a laughing stock on SNL or Jon Stewart doesn't affect my life in Toronto a whit.

I live here sir. I have to live with the very real consequences if Ford is replaced by a leftist. I don't have room in my life for cheap moralizing.

[Jen]

Liberal Mayor Joe Fontana, is charged for commiting Fraud and is facing trail. So far, the media has yet to hound him.