Toronto City Councillor demands own radio show

During a radio call-in show hosted by John Tory and Tarek Fatah on Newstalk 1010, a woman phoned in and identified herself as “Sandra”. This took place on Friday, September 25, shortly after the socialist hordes in Toronto were stunned by Mayor David Miller’s announcement that he would not be seeking a third term in office. Sandra lit into the two hosts telling them what a great deal the mayor obtained for the city when the civic workers strike was settled. Sandra described Miller as “the most brilliant politician municipally anywhere in the country”.

The caller seemed to know a lot about the way the city works and Fatah made three attempts to ask her if she worked for the city. Finally Sandra stopped talking long enough to answer the question – “I don’t work for the city”. Sandra ended her call by taking a personal swipe at Tory, wishing him good luck if he decides to run for mayor. He’ll need it because “he’s a three time loser”. After the call, the station started received emails stating that the caller sounded like Sandra Bussin, a Toronto City councillor as well as council speaker. So Newstalk 1010 contacted some other councillors and played the tape of the telephone call to them. They either said that it was Sandra Bussin or it sounded like her. On the following Wednesday, Councillor Bussin called in to Dave Trafford who was hosting the Bill Carroll Show. Bussin admitted to Trafford that she was indeed the Sandra that called the station the previous week. During this conversation she showed an arrogance that stands out in a profession (?) that is noted for its arrogance. Bussin saw nothing wrong with denying that she worked for the city. Technically that’s true. She’s not an employee but an elected representative even though her paychecks, not to mention the reimbursement for numerous perks are paid for by the city of Toronto. Anyone who has a modicum of common sense understands that Fatah wasn’t interested in her technical status but whether she had a job that gave her inside knowledge of the city of Toronto. But, true leftie that she is, Bussin refused to acknowledge that she should have acknowledged her position as city councillor. Trafford also asked her why, as a city councillor and the speaker, she didn’t initially identify herself as such before she went on-air. Her self righteous arrogance again prevented her from seeing why she was wrong not to identify herself (she apologized later in council when she saw that it was politically necessary to do so). She does what people like her always do – blame someone else. She blamed the call screener because the screener told her to only use her first name. When asked by Trafford why she made a personal attack against John Tory, she merely replied that what she said was true. Her point to Trafford was that people who called into the show the past Friday (and presumably the hosts) were just too stupid to know what is really going on to the city What was really galling about Bussin’s second call to the radio station were her constant demands for her own radio show. Time to give the other point of view was not sufficient; she demanded her own show.

I’d love to have my own show. Give me my own show so I can be out there giving the right information… Give me my own show. Give me a chance. I want a show. Give me a show. Give me a show. Let democracy reign. Give me a show so I can put out the right information.

Listening to the taped call or reading the transcript of Bussin’s call to Trafford it was nothing more than “Gimme, gimme, gimme”. It was a disgraceful performance not just a city councillor but the speaker of the assembly. It could reasonably be argued that Bussin outdid the former head of the Canadian Mint, David Dingwall, who, while being questioned by a Parliamentary committee regarding his expenses, answered by saying that he was entitled to his entitlements. Bussin’s arrogance knows no bounds. In Parliament and provincial and territorial legislatures, speakers are either chosen or elected from members of those bodies to perform the role of impartial role of speaker. All speakers are of course partisan but they do their best to appear neutral. You wouldn’t catch the Speaker of the House of Commons gushing that Michael Ignatieff is the greatest opposition leader in the country. Bussin is simply too immature and emotional to handle the role that she has. There have been calls for Bussin to resign as speaker but despite her politically necessary apology she doesn’t think she did anything wrong. Some have even called for an investigation by the city’s Integrity Commissioner. The Toronto Sun had it right in an editorial that said having the Commissioner investigate would be a complete waste of time; it’s obvious that she has no integrity. Sandra Bussin isn’t quite as smart as she thinks she is. John Tory, whom she insulted personally, is no longer a politician; he’s the media now. And Sandra has apparently never learned or understood that you don’t insult or argue with the media because they always have the last word. And the last word they had. Since the incident involved Newstalk 1010, they played it up more than they otherwise would have resulting in heavy coverage by other media. Sandra Bussin will not be the next Rush Limbaugh. But with her nasty personality and inability to listen she has a shot at becoming the next Michael Savage. Give her a show – she’s entitled!

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