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Committee room, designed 1901, in Halifax Town Hall

A committee (or "commission") is a type of small deliberative assembly that is usually intended to remain subordinate to another, larger deliberative assembly—which when organized so that action on committee requires a vote by all its entitled members, is called the "Committee of the Whole". Committees often serve several different functions:

• Governance: in organizations considered too large for all the members to participate in decisions affecting the organization as a whole, a committee (such as a Board of Directors or "Executive Committee") is given the power to make decisions, spend money, or take actions. Some or all such powers may be limited or effectively unlimited. For example of the later case, the Board of directors can frequently enter into binding contracts and make decisions which once taken or made, can't be taken back or undone under the law.

• Coordination: individuals from different parts of an organization (for example, all senior vice presidents) might meet regularly to discuss developments in their areas, review projects that cut across organizational boundaries, talk about future options, etc. Where there is a large committee, it is common to have smaller committees with more specialized functions - for example, Boards of Directors of large corporations typically have an (ongoing) audit committee, finance committee, compensation committee, etc. Large academic conferences are usually organized by a co-ordinating committee drawn from the relevant professional body.

• Research and recommendations: committees are often formed to do research and make recommendations on a potential or planned project or change. For example, an organization considering a major capital investment might create a temporary working committee of several people to review options and make recommendations to upper management or the Board of Directors. Such committees are typically dissolved after issuing recommendations (often in the form of a final report).

• Tabling: as a means of public relations by sending sensitive, inconvenient, or irrelevant matters to committees, organizations may bypass, stall, or disacknowledge matters without declaring a formal policy of inaction or indifference.

Procedures[link]

• It is common for a chairperson to organize a committee meeting through an agenda, which is usually distributed in advance.
• The chairperson is responsible for running meetings: keeping the discussion on the appropriate subject, recognizing members (calling on them to speak) [often omitted in smaller committees], and calling for votes after a debate has taken place [formal voting is normally only done in committees involved in governance]. Governance committees often have formal processes (for example, they might follow Roberts Rules of Order); other types of committees typically operate informally, with the chairperson being responsible for deciding how formal the committee processes will be.
• Minutes, a record of the discussion and decisions of the meeting, are often taken by a person designated as the secretary of the committee; they may be legally obligatory (again, typically for governance committees, especially boards of directors).
• For committees that meet regularly, the minutes of the most recent meeting are often circulated to committee members before the next meeting, and are available to the membership of the whole.
• Committees may meet on a regular basis, often weekly or yearly, or meetings may be called irregularly as the need arises. During an emergency, a committee may meet more than once per day, or sit in permanent session, as, for example, ExComm (the President's Executive Committee) did during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Subcommittees[link]

A committee that is a subset of a larger committee is called a subcommittee.

Where the larger group has a name other than "committee" - for example, "Board" or "Commission", the smaller group(s) would usually be called committee(s), not subcommittee(s), and might go by an entirely different name, or substitute "Commission" for "Committee". For example in the sciences, the "International Commission on Stratigraphy" (ICS) a standing working committee is doing organizational work establishing uniform naming and benchmarks in the geologic record and timeline since 1974, all under the auspices of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS). It is technically the "International Stratigraphy Committee" (ISC), which has limited executive committee powers to impanel other subcommittees (also called commissions) to resolve certain matters involving the Geologic time scale—its deliberations and those of its subcommittees must be adopted by the IUGS which meets in a committee-of-the-whole or Congress, every four years or so to deliberate on the subcommittee recommendations and officially adopt or not-adopt such.

From the foregoing, it can easily be seen subcommittees can generally be classified further by the adjectives: "Executive", "Standing", and "Working":

Executive committees[link]

A subcommittee which has well defined executive powers usually spelled out in the charter or by-laws and which meets frequently to manage the affairs and further the purposes of an organization or entity. These are commonly empanelled as well when an organization has a large Board of Directors such as an international labor union, large corporations (with thousands of stock holders) or national and international organizations. A Board of directors is itself a kind of Executive committee established by the charter and by-laws of the entity and elected by the overall franchised membership. For organizations where the Board of Directors is large - say 20 people or more - it is common to have an Executive Committee of the Board—an executive subcommittee of Board members, which is authorized to make some decisions on behalf of the entire Board.

Standing committees[link]

A committee established by an official and binding vote providing for its scope and powers. Most governmental legislative subcommittees are standing committees, which by another name is a permanent committee. Standing committees meet on a regular or irregular basis dependent upon their enabling act, and retain any power or oversight claims originally given them until subsequent official actions of the committee of the whole (changes to law or by-laws) disbands the committee.

Working committees[link]

An ad hoc committee established to accomplish a particular task or to oversee an ongoing area in need of control or oversight. Many are research or co-ordination committees in type or purpose, and can be temporary. Some are a sub-group of a larger society with a particular area of interest which decides to meet and discuss matters pertaining to their interests. For example a group of astronomers might get together ad hoc to discuss how to get the larger society to address near earth objects; A subgroup of engineers and scientists of a large project's development team could meet ad hoc to solve some particular issue with offsetting considerations and trade-offs. The term when used officially, generally means a group with specific duties and related authority, so when encountered in official contexts subsumes all other official types of committees. The International Commission on Stratigraphy and its subcommittees (commissions in name) are working committees that meet both far more regularly and more frequently both in deliberation and co-ordination furthering the needs of the IUGS (which regularly schedules meetings only every fourth year) and the larger scientific community.

Need[link]

Committees are a necessary aspect of organizations of any significant size (say, more than 15 or 20 people). They keep the number of participants manageable; with larger groups, either many people do not get to speak (and feel left out), or discussions are quite lengthy (and many participants find them duplicative and often boring).

Cross-field reasons[link]

Committees are a way to formally draw together people of relevant expertise from different parts of an organization who otherwise would not have a good way to share information and coordinate actions. They may have the advantage of widening viewpoints and sharing out responsibilities. They can also be empaneled with experts to recommend actions by the committee of the whole in matters that require specialized knowledge or technical judgment. A "Defense" or "Banking" subcommittee in legislative bodies or the many International science commissions such as the ICS mentioned above, or a local "board of health" are or may be such.

Conference committee[link]

It has been suggested that Conference committee be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since March 2010.

Standing committees[link]

A standing committee is a subunit of a political or deliberative body established in a permanent fashion to aid the parent assembly in accomplishing its duties. A standing committee is usually granted jurisdiction over a particular area of legislation by the parent body.

Under the laws of the United States of America, a standing committee is a Congressional committee permanently authorized by United States House of Representatives and United States Senate rules. The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 greatly reduced the number of committees, and set up the legislative committee structure still in use today, as modified by authorized changes via the orderly mechanism of rules changes.

Executive standing committee[link]

Legislatures[link]

The phrase is used in the legislatures of the following countries:

• Australia
  • Australian House of Representatives committees
  • Australian Senate committees
• Canada
  • Standing committee (Canada)
• China
  • Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
  • Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China
• Iceland
  • List of standing committees of the Icelandic parliament
• India
  • Standing committee (India)
• United Kingdom
  • Public bill committee
• United States
  • Standing committee (United States Congress)

Parliamentary committees[link]

The following take part in the parliamentary procedure:

• Fiscal committee, if the bill contains an appropriation or has financial implications for the state or federation.
• Policy committee. Appropriate committee to the subject matter.
• Rules committee. The rules committee of the House assigns each bill to a policy committee.

Steering committee[link]

A steering committee is a committee that provides guidance, direction and control to a project within an organization.^[1] The term is derived from the steering mechanism that changes the desired course of a vehicle.

Project Steering Committees are frequently used for guiding and monitoring the information technology projects in large organizations, as part of project governance. The functions of the committee might including building a business case for the project, planning, providing assistance and guidance, monitoring the progress, controlling the project scope and resolving conflicts.

See also[link]

References[link]

Daniel Straus (born July 27, 1984), formerly known as Daniel Mason-Straus, is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. A professional MMA competitor since 2009, Straus has made a name for himself fighting in the Midwest and Western regions of the United States. He holds notable wins over Karen Darabedyan, Nazareno Malegarie, Kenny Foster, Jason Dent, Mike Corey, and Marlon Sandro. He currently fights for Bellator Fighting Championships, where is the winner of Bellator Fighting Championships: Season Six Featherweight Tournament and the runner-up of Bellator Fighting Championships: Season Four Featherweight Tournament.

Wrestling career[link]

Daniel was a highly successful, and highly controversial, high school wrestler. As a junior at Sycamore High School of Cincinnati, Daniel finished 3rd in the state in Division I (135 lbs.) His senior year, he was ruled academically ineligible and missed the second half of the season (including the state tournament). However, he was given a wild card berth into the NHSCA Senior Nationals (high school senior national championship) and won the tournament. He is considered one of the best wrestlers of the decade (2001–2010) and one of the greatest Ohio high school wrestlers to never win a state title.^[1][2]

MMA career[link]

Straus made his professional MMA debut in February 2009.

Shark Fights[link]

Straus was a late replacement for Marcus Hicks at Shark Fights 13: Jardine vs. Prangley where he beat WEC veteran Karen Darabedyan via unanimous decision.^[3]

Bellator Fighting Championships[link]

Straus made his Bellator debut on June 24, 2010 at Bellator 23 where he defeated Chad Hinton via unanimous decision.

In January 2011, Bellator announced that Straus would be a part of the Bellator Season 4 Featherweight Tournament. In the quarterfinals, Straus fought the fighter with the best record in mixed martial arts at 19-0, Nazareno Malegarie, in the quarterfinals.^[4] Straus defeated Malegarie via unanimous decision to move on to the semifinals and give Malegarie the first loss of his career. The fight won Fight of the Night honors.

At Bellator 41, Straus competed in the semi-finals of the season four tournament against Kenny Foster. Straus controlled the fight for the first two rounds before he finished Foster via guillotine choke and moved on to the finals of the tournament. Straus met Patricio Freire in the fourth season tournament finals at Bellator 45. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Straus returned in the Bellator season six Featherweight tournament that started on March 9, 2012. He defeated Jeremy Spoon via unanimous decision in the opening round at Bellator 60. In the semifinal round, Straus faced Mike Corey at Bellator 65 and again won by unanimous decision. In the finals, Straus faced Marlon Sandro at Bellator 68 and won via unanimous decision. He will now face the winner of the upcoming championship bout between Featherweight champion Pat Curran and challenger Patricio Freire.

Championships and accomplishments[link]

Mixed Martial Arts[link]

• Bellator Fighting Championships
  • Bellator Season 4 Featherweight Tournament Runner-up
  • Bellator Season 6 Featherweight Tournament Winner
• North American Allied Fight Series
  • NAAFS Pro Series Lightweight Championship (One time; Current)
  • NAAFS Interim Pro Series Lightweight Championship (One time)

Amateur Wrestling[link]

• National High School Coaches Association
  • NHSCA Senior High School National Championship (2003)
  • NHSCA Senior All-American (2003)

• Ohio High School Athletic Association
  • OHSAA Division I High School State Championship 3rd Place (2002)
  • OHSAA Division I All-State (2002)
  • Sycamore High School Record for Most Wins in a Season (42; 2003)
  • Sycamore High School Record for Best Season Record (42-1; 2003)

Mixed martial arts record[link]

Result	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Win	20-4	Marlon Sandro	Decision (unanimous)	Bellator 68	02012-05-11May 11, 2012	3	5:00	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	Bellator Season 6 Featherweight Tournament Final
Win	19-4	Mike Corey	Decision (unanimous)	Bellator 65	02012-04-13April 13, 2012	3	5:00	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	Bellator Season 6 Featherweight Tournament Semifinal
Win	18-4	Jeremy Spoon	Decision (unanimous)	Bellator 60	02012-03-09March 9, 2012	3	5:00	Hammond, Indiana, United States	Bellator Season 6 Featherweight Tournament Quarterfinal
Win	17-4	Jason Dent	Decision (unanimous)	NAAFS - Caged Fury 15	02011-10-15October 15, 2011	5	5:00	Cleveland, Ohio, United States	Won and unified NAAFS Pro Series Lightweight Championship
Loss	16-4	Patricio Freire	Decision (unanimous)	Bellator 45	02011-05-21May 21, 2011	3	5:00	Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States	Bellator Season 4 Featherweight Tournament Final
Win	16-3	Kenny Foster	Submission (guillotine choke)	Bellator 41	02011-04-16April 16, 2011	3	3:48	Yuma, Arizona, United States	Bellator Season 4 Featherweight Tournament Semifinal
Win	15-3	Nazareno Malegarie	Decision (unanimous)	Bellator 37	02011-03-19March 19, 2011	3	5:00	Concho, Oklahoma, United States	Bellator Season 4 Featherweight Tournament Quarterfinal
Win	14-3	Karen Darabedyan	Decision (unanimous)	Shark Fights 13: Jardine vs. Prangley	02010-09-11September 11, 2010	3	5:00	Amarillo, Texas, United States
Win	13-3	Joe Pearson	Submission (punches)	XFO 36 - Outdoor War 6	02010-08-14August 14, 2010	2	4:04	Island Lake, Illinois, United States
Win	12-3	Chad Hinton	Decision (unanimous)	Bellator 23	02010-06-24June 24, 2010	3	5:00	Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Win	11-3	Travis Perzynski	Decision (unanimous)	ICE - International Combat Events 45	02010-03-13March 13, 2010	3	5:00	Forest Park, Ohio, United States
Win	10-3	Frank Caraballo	Submission (punches)	NAAFS - Caged Fury 9	02010-02-20February 20, 2010	5	3:57	Cleveland, Ohio, United States	Won NAAFS Interim Pro Series Lightweight Championship
Win	9-3	Gideon Ray	Decision (unanimous)	XFO 33	02010-01-23January 23, 2010	3	5:00	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Win	8-3	Joe Heiland	Decision (unanimous)	NAAFS - Night of Champions 2009	02009-12-05December 5, 2009	3	5:00	Akron, Ohio, United States
Win	7-3	Patrick Ferm	Submission (punches)	XFO 32	02009-10-10October 10, 2009	1	1:50	New Munster, Wisconsin, United States
Win	6-3	Tim Troxell	TKO (elbows and punches)	Xtreme Caged Combat - Cops vs. Cons	02009-10-03October 3, 2009	1	3:51	Reading, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	5-3	Mitch Lyons	TKO (punches)	Indiana Xtreme Fighting 1 - Wildcard	02009-06-26June 26, 2009	3	2:13	Rising Sun, Indiana, United States
Loss	4-3	Pat Curran	KO (punches)	XFO 29	02009-04-17April 17, 2009	2	1:31	Lakemoor, Illinois, United States
Win	4-2	Mike Baskis	Decision (unanimous)	ICF - Breakout	02009-04-11April 11, 2009	3	5:00	Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Win	3-2	Lester Caslow	Decision (split)	Extreme Challenge - Mayhem at the Marina	02009-03-28March 28, 2009	3	5:00	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	2-2	Tim Cook	TKO (punches)	ICF - Turfwar	02009-03-14March 14, 2009	2	0:11	Florence, Kentucky, United States
Loss	1-2	Scott Bickerstaff	TKO (punches)	MMA Big Show - Retribution	02009-03-07March 7, 2009	1	N/A	Switzerland County, Indiana, United States
Win	1-1	David Silva	Decision (unanimous)	XFO 28	02009-02-27February 27, 2009	3	5:00	Lakemoor, Illinois, United States
Loss	0-1	Jay Ellis	Submission (rear-naked choke)	XFO - New Blood	02009-02-07February 7, 2009	2	2:46	New Munster, Wisconsin, United States

References[link]

External links[link]

• Professional MMA record for Daniel Straus from Sherdog

Zulfiqar Mirza is a Pakistani politician who is affiliated with Pakistan Peoples Party. He hails from the district Badin, Hyderabad. He did his graduation from LMC Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Sindh. He is married to Fahmida Mirza who was elected as the first female Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan on March 19, 2008.^[1] She is also the first female parliamentary speaker in the Muslim world. Zulfiqar Mirza was the Home Minister of Sindh till June 2011.

He was assigned the portfolio of Jails and prisons as well as the portfolio of Senior Minister for Works, Services and Forest in Sindh cabinet. He remained member of Provincial Assembly of Sindh, member of PPP Central Executive Committee and Vice President of PPP (Sindh) till 28, August 2011.^[2] He acquired his secondary education at Cadet College Petaro in the late 1960s.

He is also the member of the board of directors of Mirza Sugar Mills located in District Badin, Sindh.^[3]

Allegations against MQM[link]

On Sunday, 28 August 2011, Zulfiqar Mirza announced his resignation from the government during an press briefing. Mirza waved several documents that he said carried the proof of the people responsible for the wave of violence in Karachi.^[4] He further stated that the MQM does not have a right to 100% mandate in Karachi and Hyderabad, but he would admit that their guns successfully got them (MQM) that mandate. He claimed to have a letter written by Altaf Hussain in 2001 where the MQM chief told then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair that Altaf Hussain would be willing to support the NATO if the British government helped the MQM to disband the ISI and force changes to the constitution . He also claimed to have personally visited the MQM chief at his residence in London, where Altaf Hussain allegedly told him that the MQM was planning on supporting a ‘secret American plot’ to break up Pakistan. He added that he had moved 20 men – ten of whom were facing the death penalty and ten facing life imprisonment – out of prisons in Karachi to prevent them from running criminal networks from behind bars, but that this effort was foiled by Sindh Governor Ishratul Ebad Khan of the MQM,a party run from the United Kingdom, who brought them back to Karachi . He added that 25 ‘known’ target killers were released from jail ^[5] His press conference was a major event and became major topic of discussion all over Pakistan.

In November 2011, Mirza left for London carrying documents he claimed to to contain evidence against Hussain and the MQM in the murder of Imran Farooq.^[6] Mirza presented the evidence to the Scotland Yard on 17 November 2011.^[7]

Fight against corruption[link]

Zulfiqar Mirza has said that political gathering of the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was an indicator of change in Pakistan and thousands of PPP workers, loyal to Benazir Bhutto and ZA Bhutto, along with Shah Mehmood Qureshi would come out on the streets for a change too. Mirza said that he was still a PPP worker and vowed to fight against corrupt ministers and mafias in the party.^[8]

See also[link]

• List of Pakistanis
• Cadet College Petaro

References[link]

External links[link]

• Zulfiqar Mirza's Web Site

Bob Kinnear is a labour leader in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is the leader of the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 113, which represents approximately 9,000 TTC workers and approximately 200 workers at Veolia Transportation (VIVA) in York Region. ^[1]

Controversy and labour actions[link]

Kinnear is a controversial labor leader due to recent job actions involving his union. In recent years he has been vocal about issues surrounding employee safety and security due to numerous attacks on the employees he represents. ^[2]

Bob Kinnear was head of Local 113 at the time of the following job actions:

• 2006 Toronto Transit Commission wildcat strike
• 2008 TTC strike
• 2008 VIVA strike in York Region
• 2011 VIVA strike in York Region

See also[link]

• Toronto Transit Commission personnel

Further reading[link]

• Kalinowski, Tess (2008-04-19). "Union leader mellows as style matures". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/357010. 
• Press, Jordan (2005-04-09). "Union leader follows steps of his father". The Globe and Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050409/TTCKINNEAR09. 
• Wattie, Chris (2008-04-29). "Union sabotaged vote: TTC". National Post. http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/story.html?id=478213. 
• Westhead, Rick (2008-04-29). "TTC union leaders bitterly split". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/419404. 
• "Kinnear denies reports of union dissension in TTC talks". CBC News. 2008-04-28. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/04/28/ttc-kinnear.html. 
• "Bob Kinnear Surfaces But Won't Apologize For Unannounced Walkout". CityNews. 2008-04-28. http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_22116.aspx. 

References[link]

1. ^ https://wemovetoronto.ca/index.asp?pid=96
2. ^ http://wemovetoronto.ca/?pid=214

This biographical article about a Canadian activist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Robert Ford
64th Mayor of Toronto
Incumbent
Assumed office December 1, 2010
Preceded by	David Miller
Toronto City Councillor for (Ward 2) Etobicoke North
In office November 14, 2000 – October 25, 2010
Preceded by	Elizabeth Brown
Succeeded by	Doug Ford, Jr.
Personal details
Born	(1969-05-28) May 28, 1969 (age 43) Etobicoke, Ontario
Political party	Independent (2000 – present) Note: Municipal politicians in Toronto run on a Nonpartisan basis
Other political affiliations	Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario[1]
Spouse(s)	Renata Brejniak (m. 2000)
Children	2
Residence	Toronto
Profession	Politician

Robert Bruce "Rob" Ford (born May 28, 1969) is a Canadian politician and businessman. He is the 64th and current Mayor of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was first elected to city council in the 2000 Toronto municipal election, and was re-elected to his council seat in 2003 and again in 2006. Ford was elected Mayor in the 2010 mayoral election, and took office on December 1 of that year. Ford's father Doug Ford, Sr. was also a politician and his brother Doug is a Toronto city councillor.

Personal life[link]

Born in Etobicoke, Ford is the youngest of four children of Diane and Doug Ford, Sr.. Ford Sr. was the founder of DECO Labels and Tags, which makes pressure-sensitive labels for plastic-wrapped grocery products at an estimated $100 million in annual sales.^[2] Ford Sr. later became a Member of the Ontario Legislature in the Progressive Conservative government of Mike Harris.^[3] Not long after Rob Ford's birth in 1969, the success of the family business allowed the family to build a six-bedroom home in Etobicoke, which has a full-sized swimming pool and gardens that can host nearly a thousand visitors.^[2]

While growing up, Ford attended the public Scarlett Heights Collegiate,^[4] where he played centre for the football team. Ford dreamed of becoming a professional football player and his father paid for Ford to attend special camps of the Washington Redskins and the University of Notre Dame. After graduating from high school, Ford went to Carleton University (studying political science), where he made the football squad, but did not play in any games.^[2] When Ford left Carleton after one year to return to Toronto, he did not return to active football. Ford continues to be involved in football, coaching the Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School's football team since 2001. Ford has donated $20,000 to equip the Don Bosco team and has started a foundation to fund teams at other schools struggling to field football teams.^[5]

After Carleton, Ford returned home and started a sales job at the printing business.^[2] After his father's death in 2006, Ford, along with his brothers and his mother continue to control the DECO Labels and Tags company.^[2] Ford resides in Etobicoke with his wife Renata and their daughter and son. Ford supports the Salvation Army's Red Shield Appeal, Terry Fox Foundation, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Etobicoke Chamber of Commerce, Toronto Board of Trade and the Toronto West Rotary Club.^[6]

City councillor[link]

Ford was first elected to Toronto City Council in 2000, defeating incumbent Elizabeth Brown in Ward 2 Etobicoke North.^[6] Ward 2 is located in the north-west corner of the city in the former city of Etobicoke. The ward's population of over 50,000 in 2006 was 53% composed of immigrants, the largest group being South Asians. It is mixed in nature with 40% of dwellings being single-family detached homes and 35% being high-rise apartments.^[7] It is also known as an area that has seen gang violence, including six murders in 2000.^[8]Ford had previously resided in the ward, but moved in 2000 prior to the election, after his marriage, to Ward 4.

One of the first concerns of the newly-elected councillor was raised in the 2001 budget deliberations. Ford proposed a cut to each councillor's $200,000 office budget, money for travel to conferences, ending city limousine usage and club memberships. "If we wiped out the perks for council members, we'd save $100 million easy."^[9] Ford would continue to focus on spending on councillors throughout his term as councillor.^[10]

Ford made a point of not using his allotted city budget for his office expenses, paying for the expenses from his salary. He claimed $10 for his first year, and $4 for his second year. "All this office budget stuff is self-promotion to benefit yourself." On flyers for events and meetings: "Why should the taxpayers have to pay for it? It boggles my mind."^[11]

In 2003, Ford supported increased funding for the TTC. He also supported the inquiry into the MFP scandal.

In the 2003 municipal election, Ford endorsed twelve political candidates on a platform of fiscal responsibility to take on fellow councillors: "We just need to get rid of these life-long politicians that just give out money to special interest groups and don't serve the community. I'm really teed off. We need to get a new council or this city is going to go down the drain."^[12] Ford targetted Brian Ashton, Maria Augimeri, Sandra Bussin, Olivia Chow, Pam McConnell, Howard Moscoe^[13] and Sherene Shaw.^[12] Shaw did go down in defeat to Ford's future budget chief Michael Del Grande,^[14] while the rest were re-elected. Ford himself was re-elected with 80% of the vote in Ward 2.^[14]

In the 2006 election, he won again, this time with 66% of the vote.^[15]

Toronto mayoral election[link]

Rocco Rossi and Rob Ford at the Parkview Hills Community Association Mayoral Debate.

Ford declared his candidacy for Mayor of Toronto in the 2010 election on March 26, 2010. Councillor Mike Del Grande says of Ford: "He’s very popular with ‘Joe Public.’ He’s definitely a contender, not a wild card."^[16] At the campaign kickoff meeting, Ford laid out his platform, organized into four main themes: "putting people and families first, focusing on the fundamentals, reducing waste and eliminating unnecessary taxes." Among his campaign promises, he said that he would repeal the vehicle registration and land transfer taxes implemented by current mayor, David Miller, and make the Toronto Transit Commission an essential service. During his campaign, he promised voters " services will not be cut, guaranteed". While in office, he qualified this statement to no major service reductions, and called none of his changes cuts.^[17] Ford's campaign used a novel approach for Toronto which worked effectively, despite “the conventional wisdom [that] conservatives don’t win in Toronto”. His staff disregarded the conventional strategy of placing emphasis on target seats and focusing only on certain areas, which is used at the national, provincial and mainstream party level. Instead, his campaign bypassed traditional media outlets, using telephone town halls to call some 40,000 homes simultaneously and invite respondents to a talk-radio-style event hosted by Ford. This created grassroots momentum and facilitated small donations and grew the campaign’s database.^[18]

Ford campaigned on ending wasteful spending at City Hall, and his slogans such as "Stop the Gravy Train" and “respect for taxpayers” resonated with the public.^[19] His campaign's extensive internal polls showed that wasteful spending at City Hall was one of the biggest concerns among voters, although that "seemed to be the last thing any of the other candidates were talking about". Ford also pledged to do away with the city's century-old fair-wage policy, which required that private contractors be paid the same as union employees. It was said that Ford successfully tapped into recession-weary “ordinary” people who comprise the bulk of the population Toronto, who were angry at perceived financial mismanagement at City Hall and powerful city employee unions with generous benefits and pension plans.^[20] Ford's message of putting taxpayers’ interests before that of labour and special interests was also said to have attracted wide support among diverse immigrant communities in the inner-city and suburbs (whose demographics contrast sharply with the "urbane creative class" of The Beach and the Annex neighborhoods). By contrast, "people knew precisely nothing about what George Smitherman stood for", according to a spokesman for George Smitherman who was considered Ford's chief opponent.^[18][21][22]

Rival George Smitherman and other political opponents attempted to make an issue of Ford's past controversial statements and incidents. However, these did little to hurt Ford's popularity. A pollster found that "one middle-aged woman explained that she would overlook personality failings in a mayor – as long as he didn’t waste her taxes".^[23][24] According to campaign staffers Richard Ciano and Nick Kouvalis, these personal attacks were turned into advantages by the Ford campaign, portraying rivals making these personal attacks as "trying to keep the gravy train going".^[18] The barbs directed at Ford generated more donations to his campaign. So did his lack of sophistication. According to Kovalis "our polling said, don't put him in a $2,000 suit."^[18] The revelation of Ford's DUI conviction in Florida, and his subsequent public apology, led to an increase in support for Ford.^[18]

In June 2010, Ford and fellow councillors criticized retiring Kyle Rae for holding a retirement party at the Rosewater Club and billing the $12,000 cost to his office budget. Rae said that unspent campaign funds he was forced to turn over the city more than covered the cost, but critics pointed out that the campaign money was not his to spend. This example was used by Ford as an example of the "Gravy Train" at City Hall.^[25][26][27]

On August 17, 2010, The National Post reported that a computer user inside the Toronto Star company made edits to the Wikipedia article about Ford that his campaign considered "very serious libel" and copyright infringement. Bob Hepburn, a Toronto Star spokesman, denied responsibility for the edits. "The Toronto Star owns a couple of these IP portals and they come under Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, which is a broader thing. The Toronto Star itself has a separate portal," said Hepburn.^[28]

A Nanos Research poll, published on September 19, 2010, showed Ford doubling his lead from 12% to 24.5% over second-place candidate Smitherman (45.8% to 21.3% of decided voters).^[29] The Nanos Research Poll asked 1021 "likely voters" from September 14 and 16 with Rob Ford receiving 34.4% of likely voters, Smitherman 16%, Joe Pantalone 12% and undecided voters at 25%.^[30] A Global News Ipsos-Reid poll released Monday, September 27 showed Ford's lead diminishing at 28 per cent, with George Smitherman at 23 per cent, Joe Pantalone (who pledged to continue the policies of outgoing mayor David Miller) at 10 per cent, and Rocco Rossi and Sarah Thomson (who dropped from the race on September 28 and endorsed Smitherman) at seven per cent each.^[31][32] On October 22., an EKOS Research Poll found Ford with an 8 per cent lead over second place Smitherman in decided voters; 43.9% to 35.6%.^[33]

Ford also criticized Smitherman's previous record as provincial minister of health, where Smitherman had been responsible for approving most of the sole-sourced contracts before the scandal of eHealth Ontario erupted. A Ford spokesman said "the voters and the taxpayers of Toronto are going to get a very clear message from this information today that George Smitherman has no fiscal credibility to be mayor of Toronto. He is incapable of handling a budget".^[34][35]

Ford was elected mayor with 380,201 votes (47%) over Smitherman's 287,393 (35.6%) and Pantalone with 94,840 (11.7%). The voter turnout was around 52% of registered voters, the highest in Toronto's post-amalgamation history. Ford's 11% margin of victory was the largest for any incoming mayor in post-amalgamation history, roughly double that of Mel Lastman in 1997 and David Miller in 2003.^[22] While ward-by-ward electoral results showed that Ford had won all the suburbs compared to Smitherman who topped (old Toronto) districts, Ford also received significicant support (80000 votes) from the "Downtown 13” wards which made up over 20% of his total votes. By contrast, 60% of Smitherman's strongholds were located in Ward 27 and 28, which makes up his former provincial MPP riding.^{[citation needed]}

Mayor[link]

After the election, Ford had outgoing councillor Case Ootes, a former City of Toronto budget chief, head the "transition team." From his campaign team, Ford named Nick Kouvalos as his chief of staff,^[36] and Mark Towhey, who had drafted his campaign platform, as his policy advisor.^[37] Doug Holyday, who had helped elect Doug Ford Sr., was named Deputy Mayor.^[38] For the Executive Committee of City Council, Ford named councillors who had endorsed him in his campaign. For the inauguration ceremony at the first meeting of the new Council, Ford had television commentator (and Mississauga resident) Don Cherry introduce him and put the chain of office on him. Cherry, known for his audacious suits, wore a pink suit and garnered some controversy with his remarks. Cherry described how Ford had reversed a mistake of City staff cutting down a tree of a Toronto property owner for no good reason and then billing the property owner, who suffered from Alzheimer's. Cherry, for colour, added "Put that in your pipe you left-wing kooks" and "I’m wearing pinko for all the pinkos out there that ride bicycles and everything, I thought I’d get it in."^[39]

In May 2011, a three-member panel unanimously voted to proceed with an audit of the Mayor's campaign finances after election fraud complaints were made.^[40] In February 2012, a Council meeting debated a judgement of the City of Toronto's integrity commissioner, over a matter that the Ford campaign had accepted $3,500 on behalf of a foundation that supports high school football, which was against election rules. The commissioner had ruled that Ford should the money and Council voted for Ford to return the money. Ford had not paid the amount, and the item was addressed at the February meeting. At the meeting, Council voted to not impose any fine or judgment on Ford, overturning the previous ruling. Ford participated in the vote at Council, which then led to a conflict-of-interest charge laid privately by a Toronto citizen and a legal action of civil rights lawyer Clayton Ruby. Ruby's action seeks to remove Ford as mayor and prohibit Ford from entering civil politics for a maximum period of seven years. The action is scheduled to be heard in September 2012.^[41]

Budgets[link]

At the first meeting of the new City Council in December 2011, Council voted to cancel the annual $60 personal vehicle tax passed by the previous Council. The tax cancellation, a campaign promise of Ford's, took effect on January 1, 2011.^[42] For the first budget, which was for 2011, the budget was balanced with no tax increases and no significant changes. The budget used a surplus from 2010 and reserve funds to avoid raising taxes. A planned TTC hike was cancelled after Ford objected to it.^[43]

For 2012, the Ford administration initiated a consultant review of the services provided by the City. The study included public consultation via online and at public meetings. Participants were asked to group services as 'necessary', 'nice to have', etc. and how to expect to pay for them. Ford himself suggested that the City get out of running the several venues it owns, including the Sony Centre, selling off the Toronto Zoo and closing other zoos run by the City of Toronto. Ford's team promoted a figure of over $700 million as the projected shortfall with no new taxes or cuts made. The budget as proposed by Ford included cuts to various services, including environmental programs, libraries, parks and recreation, and social services, while increasing property tax by 2%, TTC fares and user fees, including those of sports teams of city facilities. In Ford's election campaign, Ford had promised to make savings at City Hall without cuts to services. Two public meetings held at City Hall turned into overnight marathons with hundreds of citizens, labour groups and special interest groups protesting the various cuts. The budget was revised at Council to restore over $18 million of spending and send the administration of the Toronto Zoo and the venues for further study. Three smaller zoos were given deadlines of June 2012 to find other funding or close. Later in 2012, the increases in sports teams' user fees was postponed until 2013. In April 2012, it was found that the City was running a surplus of nearly $270 million for 2011, attributed to greater-than-expected land transfer tax revenues and cost-cutting at city hall.^[44]

Labour relations[link]

As part of Ford's campaign promise to "end the gravy train", the administration spent time on consideration of staffing levels at the City. In 2011, the budget committee of Council passed several recommendations to cut staff through layoffs and buyouts. In July 2011, the City offered buyout packages to 17,000 staff, depending on department approval, hoping to cut staff by 2,500 voluntarily.^[45] At the end of the period, over 1,000 Toronto staff accepted buyouts. Also in 2011, Council approved the designation of the Toronto Transit Commission as an 'essential service', meaning strikes would not be allowed, and labour agreements would be settled via arbitration. In October 2011, Council also voted 26–16 to 'contract out' garbage collection west of Yonge Street to a private contractor.^[46]

In 2012, several of the City's contracts expired with their unionized staff: inside workers, outside workers, part-time parks and recreation staff, paramedics and library staff. Ford and and deputy mayor Doug Holyday put the unions on notice that the unions should expect tough negotiations. The first union to settle was the outside workers, represented by CUPE 416. Negotiations with the outside workers went to the deadline and a deal was made averting a strike or lockout. One major change was the controversial "jobs for life" clause in the bargaining agreement which stated that all permanent employees with 10 years of service or more were guaranteed a job of equal pay for equal value if theirs was contracted out. CUPE accepted a change to 15 years of service under the same provision.. During the 2012 bargaining sessions, Holyday refused to allow the union to employ delaying tactics to drag out the talks until the summer, as they had in 2009 and previous years, by negotiating early and threatening to unilaterally impose the city's offer.^[47][48][49]

In other contract negotiations, the paramedics were named as an 'essential service' in the outside workers deal, which meant that the paramedics could not go on strike in the future, and contract negotiations would go to arbitration. This provoked a threatened split from CUPE, but the paramedics eventually voted to accept. The inside workers settled with the City without any strike. The part-time parks and recreation staff initially rejected their first offer, but accepted a revised City offer. The library workers' union went on strike in February and a settlement was made one week later with the City.

Transit policy[link]

After being elected, Ford declared the Transit City transit plan dead.^[50] He then proceeded to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Ontario and the City of Toronto for Metrolinx to build the Crosstown LRT entirely underground while the City of Toronto would build an extension for the Sheppard subway line using its own funds, private funding agreements and any monies remaining from commitments from Ontario and the Government of Canada. Metrolinx subsequently put a stop to the Sheppard LRT project with unspecified cancellation penalties. The Memorandum of Understanding was to be ratified by Toronto City Council, but was not. Ford set up an agency to study funding of the subway project, under the direction of former councillor Gordon Chong. Chong proposed user fees, parking fees and/or road taxes, but these options were rejected by Ford. In 2012, Toronto City Council held a special meeting to overturn the Ford-Ontario plan and voted to put a section of the Crosstown above-ground, and use the savings to build a Finch LRT line. Council decided further to study whether to put a subway line beween the Don Mills Sheppard subway station and Scarborough Town Centre or put an LRT line along Sheppard as far east as Morningside Avenue. The Council meeting, at the instigation of TTC chair Karen Stintz, led to a special TTC management committee meeting where TTC general manager Gary Webster was fired. Council then held a special meeting to depose the TTC committee, removing Ford's appointees from the committee. The Sheppard panel returned in March 2012 with a recommendation to build the LRT option. Although Ford opposed the LRT, Council voted to approve the project. At the last minute, Ford's allies on Council attempted to set up a parking lot fee to help fund the project, but Ford did not support the fee, and his allies could not sway the majority of Council. Ford stated after the vote that this would be an issue in the next municipal election and he would do what he could to prevent the LRT construction and start campaigning to overturn the decision. In April, Metrolinx approved a plan of construction on the LRT transit projects, projecting a completion in 2020.^[51]

Media relations[link]

Ford's mayoralty campaign had seen a polarization of the media, and this continued on into his mayoralty. The Toronto Star newspaper and NOW magazine continued their criticism of Ford. The Toronto Sun newspaper^[52][53] and Talk Radio 640 radio station supported his causes.^[54][55] Ford had announced his candidacy for Mayor on Talk Radio 640 and gave Talk Radio 640 the first interview after his election.^[56]

Not long after his election, NOW published a fake nude photo of Ford on its cover, with a strategically-placed fig leaf. The issue (NOW is distributed as a free weekly) was initially removed from all locations at City Hall and later returned.^[57] While Ford did not ask for an apology, his supporters on Council did, but NOW refused. The Toronto Star and Ford began an ongoing dispute. Several columnists regularly wrote critical articles of Ford.^[58] In response, Ford refused to meet with Star reporters and in December 2011, the Star filed a complaint with the City of Toronto's integrity commissioner.^[59]

Ford took a different approach from his predecessor Miller when dealing with the media. The doors to the mayor's office that had been symbolically open during the Miller era were shut. Adrienne Batra, his press secretary, kept Ford's meeting schedule secret except to freedom-of-information requests. After reporters asked if Ford had met with one of his campaign donors Vaughan developer Mario Cortellucci, Batra stopped including the names of Ford's meeting partners.^[36]

On October 24, 2011, Ford was confronted in the driveway of his home by Mary Walsh, a cast member of the CBC satirical show This Hour Has 22 Minutes, in costume as her character Marg Delahunty. Walsh has frequently conducted "ambush" interviews of Canadian politicians as this character, a housewife who dresses in an outfit inspired by Xena: Warrior Princess.^[60] When Walsh and the CBC TV crew tried to interview Ford, Ford instead retreated into the house and called 911. Ford called again a few minutes after the first call. In his second call to 911, Ford used obscenities. CBC News reported that Ford had swore at the dispatchers, which Ford denied, although he admitted that he had used obscenities. "After being attacked in my driveway, I hope I can be excused for saying the f-word. I never called anyone any names. I apologize for expressing my frustration inappropriately."^[61][62][63] Walsh's segment was shown on television, along with a segment of her interviewing Ford's brother.

In 2012, along with his brother Doug, started a public weight-loss challenge entitled Cut the Waist with an accompanying web site 'cutthewaist.ca'. The site encourages others to lose weight and also encourages pledges to charity for every pound that the Ford brothers lose.^[64] In February 2012, Ford, along with his brother Doug, began the The City with Mayor Rob Ford & Councillor Doug Ford two-hour radio talk program on Newstalk 1010 on Sundays. The Fords' show discusses current topics affecting the City of Toronto, with phone-in guests.^[65]

In May 2012, when the Toronto Star was investigating a potential purchase of public lands bordering his home, Star reporter Daniel Dale and Ford had an incident. According to Ford, at 7:30 pm, a neighbour told him that someone was taking pictures of his home while standing on a cinder block on public property behind his house, while the property in question is on the side of his house. Ford confronted the reporter and yelled at him.^[66] According to Dale, he was "cornered like a rat" by Ford, yelled for help, repeatedly asked Ford not to punch him, dropped his cell phone and digital recorder and ran, scared of Ford.^[67] The next day, on Talk Radio 640, Ford stated that he would no longer meet with any City Hall reporters if Dale were present.^[68] No charges were laid in the incident.^[69]

Political affiliation[link]

Ford's father was a Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC) party member and Rob Ford has maintained political connections with the PC and the federal Conservative Parties. Former Ontario Premier Mike Harris regularly gives advice to Ford. A picture of Harris with Ford's father adorns his mayor's office. Ford describes his father as his "political hero, my business hero, he's my hero overall."^[70]

Controversies[link]

In 1999, Ford was arrested in Miami for driving under the influence (DUI) and marijuana possession charges.^[71] According to the statement recorded by the arresting officer, Ford was acting nervous, had blood shot eyes and had "a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath". Ford threw his hands up in the air and told the police officer, "Go ahead, take me to jail."^[72] Until he was questioned by reporters,^[73] Ford said that the marijuana charge had "completely, totally slipped my mind" because the more serious issue during that arrest was the DUI charge.^[74] Ford initially denied the DUI charge, saying instead he was arrested because he "refused to give a breath sample".^[75]

On April 15, 2006, Ford (a sitting councillor at the time) attended a Maple Leafs hockey game at the Air Canada Centre. Visibly intoxicated and belligerent, he began to insult a couple seated behind him, who were visiting from out of town. Two security guards escorted Ford out of the building. When confronted about the episode three days later by a National Post reporter, Ford denied even having been at the game, declaring that he hadn't been to a hockey game since Christmas. "This is unbelievable," he told the Toronto Star. "I wasn't even at the game, so someone's trying to do a real hatchet job on me, let me tell you." ^[76] The following day, Ford admitted that he had lied to the media about the incident, and finally apologized for his behaviour: “That was just stupidity. I feel terrible about it. My wife and I had a little bit too much to drink . . . I made a mistake that will never happen again.” ^[77]

On March 7, 2007, Ford made controversial comments about cyclists' use of the roads, saying, "What I compare bike lanes to is swimming with the sharks. Sooner or later you're going to get bitten... Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks, not for people on bikes. My heart bleeds for them when I hear someone gets killed, but it’s their own fault at the end of the day."^[78] On May 25, 2009, Ford said, "It's no secret, okay. The cyclists are a pain in the ass to the motorists."

At a council meeting on March 5, 2008, Ford said, "Those Oriental people work like dogs. They work their hearts out. They are workers non-stop. They sleep beside their machines. That's why they're successful in life. I went to Seoul, South Korea, I went to Taipei, Taiwan. I went to Tokyo, Japan. That's why these people are so hard workers (sic). I'm telling you, the Oriental people, they're slowly taking over." ^[79] Ford later apologized for using the term "orientals", but stood by his remarks, claiming that they were meant as a positive assessment of their work ethic.

References[link]

• McDonald, Marci (2012). "The Incredible Shrinking Mayor". Toronto Life (May 2012): pp. 40–54. 

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rob Ford

• Rob Ford profile on City of Toronto website

v t e Members of the current Toronto Executive Committee Ainslie · Berardinetti · Del Grande · Ford · Holyday · Kelly · Mammoliti · Milczyn · Minnan-Wong · Palacio · Robinson · Shiner · Thompson

v t e Mayors of the Greater Toronto Area Toronto Rob Ford Peel Region Brampton: Susan Fennell · Caledon: Marolyn Morrison · Mississauga: Hazel McCallion York Region Aurora: Geoff Dawe · East Gwillimbury: Virginia Hackson · Georgina: Robert Grossi · King: Steve Pellegrini · Markham: Frank Scarpitti · Newmarket: Tony Van Bynen · Richmond Hill: Dave Barrow · Vaughan: Maurizio Bevilacqua · Whitchurch–Stouffville: Wayne Emmerson Durham Region Ajax: Steve Parish · Brock: Terry Clayton · Clarington: Adrian Foster · Oshawa: John Henry · Pickering: Dave Ryan · Scugog: Chuck Mercier · Uxbridge: Gerri Lynn O'Connor · Whitby: Pat Perkins Halton Region Burlington: Rick Goldring · Halton Hills: Rick Bonnette · Milton: Gord Krantz · Oakville: Rob Burton

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v t e Members of the Toronto City Council Mayor: Rob Ford Speaker: Frances Nunziata • Deputy Speaker: John Parker     Vincent Crisanti Doug Ford Doug Holyday Gloria Lindsay Luby Peter Milczyn Mark Grimes Giorgio Mammoliti Anthony Perruzza Maria Augimeri James Pasternak Frances Nunziata Frank Di Giorgio Sarah Doucette Gord Perks Josh Colle Karen Stintz Cesar Palacio Ana Bailão Mike Layton Adam Vaughan Joe Mihevc Josh Matlow John Filion David Shiner Jaye Robinson John Parker Kristyn Wong-Tam Pam McConnell Mary Fragedakis Paula Fletcher Janet Davis Mary-Margaret McMahon Shelley Carroll Denzil Minnan-Wong Michelle Berardinetti Gary Crawford Michael Thompson Glenn De Baeremaeker Michael Del Grande Norm Kelly Chin Lee Raymond Cho Paul Ainslie Ron Moeser Toronto City Hall • Toronto City Council