A snapshot of the police beat this week in Toronto, Canada’s biggest city and its national centre of commerce:
The Day the Rob Ford Story Stopped Being Funny
“If this guy isn’t in jail, why bother having police at all? Why not just round up poor people whenever powerful people get the urge? The least we can do, it seem to me, is let everyone currently serving a sentence for drug use out of prison. Otherwise, the whole system is pure hypocrisy. Rob Ford is a threat to the still scared idea of equality under the law.”
– Esquire, popular American magazine aimed at men (We suspect the author means “sacred.” But “scared” works.)
Dancing crosswalk guard sidelined by police
“A Toronto crossing guard has been told to stop dancing while on the job out of concern that she could be distracting drivers. Kathleen Byers is known for dancing back and forth across Dufferin Street, south of Dundas Street West, to music from a boombox, which she wears slung over her shoulder.”
– Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, local station report.
Further reading:
Free Range: A Rob Ford Nation. My small comments about the larger political picture; what the choice of mayor by Toronto’s citizenry says about Canada.
Andrew Coyne column in The National Post: Rob Ford mess a monster born of divisive and condescending populism