For my first post on democracy in the news I have chosen a topic that holds a very special place in my heart, its unique and its called Rob Ford politics. In case you haven’t heard of him next time you need a laugh look him up. He is the mayor of Toronto, a buffoon, and above all, a colossal f*** up, but I like the guy, he keeps me laughing. I suppose he does make my city look bad being totally out to lunch and all, but then again, I make my friends look bad so who am I to judge.

But I’m worried; it looks like Mayor Ford has gotten in a little over his head, which is an understatement because this time around he as actually gotten himself kicked out of office.  However, I’m questioning the validity of this ruling; I’m not so sure that in this instance the punishment fits the crime, in fact I’m not so sure the judges decree is even democratic. But before I proceed with the story I feel I should give a bit of background information first.

It all starts with a passion of Ford’s; his Achilles Heel so to speak – high school football. Any Torontonian who watches the evening news knows that Rob Ford loves high school football. And I must give him credit; he does devote a lot of time and energy into helping out the sport, even, at times, at the expense of his mayoral duties. Also, ha has a tendency to leverage his position in office to further his personal agendas.

This time around he is in trouble for violating Toronto’s municipal conflict of interest act by misappropriating city resources to fundraise for his football team. Back when he was on city council he was using City of Toronto letterhead to fundraise, essentially misleading donors into thinking they were donating to the city when in fact they were donating to Ford’s football foundation for kids. Eventually it was brought to Ford’s attention that this practice was illegal and he stopped. However, when the judge ordered that he pay back the garnered funds from his own pockets, he refused. The judge set a deadline to pay, Ford ignored, and as such the judge has been booted him from office for violating breach of trust.

My question is whether a judge should have the authority to override the will of the people? After all, we voted him in so shouldn’t it be up to us to vote him out? Of course Mayor Ford is appealing his dismissal, so once again, it is up to the judges to decide the fate of our democracy.