Ford will still be dead and the media will still be going after him and the entire Ford family, thinking of more ways to embarrass the people who really cared about the ordinary Torontonian
Wow! City of Toronto spent a whole $19,000 on Rob Ford’s funeral
The total cost will come in at more than the $19,000 the media is reporting because the cost of policing the funeral procession route has not yet been calculated. But we will use the $19,000 figure since that is what the liberal media is using in reporting it and implying it is too much money to spend on the likes of Rob Ford.
Shortly after the funeral, the Ford-hating media were quick to point out the cost of having Ford lie in repose at City Hall for two days before a procession took place that ended up at St. James Cathedral several blocks away. The was big news for CBC, CTV, CityTv and others. Andthen there was Metro, making a joke of the whole thing with the headline, “Guess how much the city spent to honour Rob Ford?”
Toronto is the largest city in Canada with multi-billion dollar operating and capital budgets; it is simply not newsworthy that less than $20,000 was spent on something unless the media reporting it has an agenda. And of course they do. Even in death, the Ford-hating left wing media are out to get him.
After all the publicity about how much was spent for Ford to lie in repose at City Hall for two days, the Ford family offered to reimburse the city for what it spent honouring the former councillor and mayor. Jackie DeSouza, the Director of Strategic Communications for the city of Toronto, told Canada Free Press there were no formal discussions with the family about costs. She said, “It was always the City’s intention to absorb any costs related to the visitation (lying in repose) for Councillor Ford. We did not request nor expect the family to pay for these expenses, which were covered within the City’s normal operating budget.”
There can be little doubt the family is paying simply because the media made such a big deal about the sum of $19,000 being paid to honour a former mayor and councillor who was detested by the elites and whose funeral was attended by thousands and thousands of people.
To put the $19,000 in perspective, after his first election to council in 2000, Ford complained, loudly as was his style, about the $70,000 the city spends each year to have the plants at City Hall watered. The same media who cannot seem to say enough about this $19,000 onetime expense laughed at him for making a fuss about an expense that was so small it could not possibly affect the fiscal state of the city.
One of Ford’s mantras was “respect for taxpayers.” During his years in office he was constantly criticized for using his own money for things that could properly have been expensed to the city. The $19,000 is a piddly amount compared to the money Ford saved the city by not spending money allocated by the budget for council expenses. But all the media seems to want to talk about is how much his death has cost taxpayers.
What was interesting was the rapidity of the release of the costs spent to honour Ford. The councillor’s funeral was held on March 31 and the figures were released the very next day. DeSouza explained how quickly information is released depends upon several factors such as the complexity of the calculations that depends in part on how many city departments are involved. She added, “In this case, the City had received multiple requests from media, members of the public and Councillors requesting the costs for the City to host the visitation.”
The only inference that can be drawn from the above statement is those who made all these requests did so because they did not think any money should have been spent to honour Ford. There is no other possible interpretation for so many requests for the information so soon. And these people must be singing with glee knowing the family will reimburse the city for daring to spend money honouring Ford.
The decision to allow Ford to lie in repose at City Hall was made by Mayor John Tory. It could not have been made by council because there was no time to commission a study and send the idea to a committee.
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In late August, 2011, the Toronto Star reported on the cost of the funeral for Jack Layton, leader of the official opposition and a former Toronto city councillor. That cost: $368,326. Part of that cost included Layton lying in repose at City Hall albeit for a shorter time and a procession from City Hall to Roy Thomson Hall. Not a peep from those who are now sarcastically asking people to guess how much it cost them to honour Ford. After all, Layton was one of them.
As in the case of Ford, the decision to allow Layton to lie in repose at City Hall was made by the mayor at the time. That mayor was Robert Bruce Ford.
So what will lie ahead in the coming days, weeks and months? Ford will still be dead and the media will still be going after him and the entire Ford family, thinking of more ways to embarrass the people who really cared about the ordinary Torontonian.
The total cost will come in at more than the $19,000 the media is reporting because the cost of policing the funeral procession route has not yet been calculated. But we will use the $19,000 figure since that is what the liberal media is using in reporting it and implying it is too much money to spend on the likes of Rob Ford.
Shortly after the funeral, the Ford-hating media were quick to point out the cost of having Ford lie in repose at City Hall for two days before a procession took place that ended up at St. James Cathedral several blocks away. The was big news for CBC, CTV, CityTv and others. Andthen there was Metro, making a joke of the whole thing with the headline, “Guess how much the city spent to honour Rob Ford?”
