WhatFinger


That a major newspaper in another country would paint the severely ill Ford in such a negative light goes beyond anything the anti-Ford media in Toronto has done

New York Times does factually wrong hit piece on cancer stricken Toronto mayor



Since Robert Bruce Ford was first elected as a city councillor back in 2000, the elite left wing media had it in for him. Even before Ford became enmeshed in drug and booze-fueled scandals, Ford’s fiscal conservatism and concern over how tax money was spent, was too much for them. On top of that he was uncouth, mouthed off a lot and because of his family’s business, was one of those one per-centers the left love to hate.
Nasty media articles are nothing new for Ford. Back in 2010, just before the election, an article written by Stephen Marche, used the word “fat” 17 times in describing the man who was about to win the mayoral race with 47% of the vote. The Globe and Mail, a newspaper that likes to think of itself as the Canadian version of the New York Times, pulled the piece from its website after receiving complaints. But the New York Times did something the Toronto media has not done; published an article, complete with errors, mocking Toronto’s mayor while he was undergoing chemotherapy. On Sept. 11, Ford went to see his doctor after the abdominal pains he suffered from worsened. He was immediately hospitalized and later that day it was revealed he had a tumor. The mayor was then transferred to Mt. Sinai hospital where the following week his lead doctor, Dr. Zane Cohen, held a press conference and announced the tumor was malignant. Ford had been diagnosed with having liposarcoma, a rare form of cancer. Ford was undergoing his first round of chemotherapy when the New York Times published a piece written by Bruce McCall, whoever he is. McCall is described as an artist and writer who is a Canadian citizen and lives in New York.

Support Canada Free Press


Article was filled with erroneous and one potentially libellous statement

McCall may have (emphasis on “may”) been trying to be funny. The article, entitled Farewell, Rob Ford, starts off with what a staid city “Toronto the Good” used to be, followed by the drug and alcohol use by Ford. It concludes that these staid Torontonians may miss Ford. The article was filled with erroneous and one potentially libellous statement that was later corrected on the web version. McCall had originally written that after Ford left rehab at the end of July, “he was back to publically boozing it up.” This error was corrected by the Times, sort of. There has been absolutely no evidence Ford ever drank alcohol or used non-prescription drugs after he emerged from rehab. In public, Ford was constantly hounded by the anti-Ford media and there was never any evidence of alcohol or drug use, in public or otherwise. If there had even been a rumour of such use, there would have been reports in the media quoting unnamed sources saying he was boozing it up again. There was nothing. This was simply a fact McCall made up to demonize the cancer-stricken mayor. In the online correction, it was noted that Ford “says” he hasn’t relapsed after leaving rehab and that there was no evidence “he had no sooner left the facility than he was back to publicly boozing it up.” This correction leaves open the possibility, even implies that he did “booze it up,” just not right after leaving rehab. It hardly conformed to the facts there is no evidence he ever drank after his rehab stint. In his hit piece, McCall writes, “He named his all-but-twin-brother Doug to run in his place.” [Emphasis added]. That is not what happened. Rob didn’t name Doug to run. Prior to the deadline for registering as a candidate, Rob withdrew his name from the ballot and Doug registered. McCall’s sentence confirms the Christie Blatchford conclusion that Toronto is no different than North Korea and the Fords no different than the Kims. There was another error that was corrected. In the original piece, Ford was described as “His Honor.” While that might be the proper designation of the mayor of New York City, the writer, a purported Canadian, doesn’t seem to know the mayor of Toronto is referred to as “His Worship.” A minor error but it makes readers wonder what else America’s newspaper of record gets wrong. If Ford’s cancer prognosis is known, it has not been made public. But it is serious. To take such nasty swipes, especially untrue ones, against someone who is suffering from such a dreaded disease is disgusting. And the “correction” wasn’t much better. When the crack scandal first emerged, it made headlines around the world. There is still interest outside of Toronto in Rob Ford. But, that a major newspaper in another country would paint the severely ill Ford in such a negative light goes beyond anything the anti-Ford media in Toronto has done.


View Comments

Arthur Weinreb -- Bio and Archives

Arthur Weinreb is an author, columnist and Associate Editor of Canada Free Press. Arthur’s latest book, Ford Nation: Why hundreds of thousands of Torontonians supported their conservative crack-smoking mayor is available at Amazon. Racism and the Death of Trayvon Martin is also available at Smashwords. His work has appeared on Newsmax.com,  Drudge Report, Foxnews.com.

Older articles (2007) by Arthur Weinreb


Sponsored