Sutcliffe: Ford’s life worth more than his job
And yet addiction ruins and ends lives, rips apart families and costs billions in productivity. While we shouldn’t begrudge anyone some weekend fun, a line must be drawn between recreation and abuse. By all indications, Ford is on the wrong side of that line. No one who is serious when he utters the line “in one of my drunken stupors” is fit to lead any organization, let alone face the pressures of big-city politics and public life.
Aside from the comedians, too many people are viewing this story through a political lens. Those who never liked Ford or his agenda are seizing on the moment for political advantage. They want to punish Ford. And they have plenty of ammunition. It’s hard to be a lawmaker when you might be a lawbreaker. You can’t be in political office and in the company of drug dealers, let alone be one of their clients.
Those who defend Ford are just as much part of the problem. They wilfully ignore his misbehaviour because they don’t want their cause to suffer a setback or, worse, their enemies to achieve victory. They encourage Ford to keep up the fight, as though it’s his opponents in politics and the media, not his own actions, that have caused this crisis.
In so doing, they cause harm to the person they claim to admire and support. Are they really willing to see a man die in the name of municipal tax cuts and spending restraint? Is there no one else who can advance the agenda without risking his own life in the process?
Unfortunately, Ford’s own family is in as much a state of denial as the mayor himself. His sister says the mayor doesn’t have a problem. His mother claims his only issue is his weight. Doug Ford continues to portray his brother as a blameless victim.
Offering support and pretending there’s no problem is the path of least resistance; it takes real courage to provide tough love. What Ford needs is a strong message from someone he trusts that his life is worth more than his job and that he’s in danger of losing both.
In any other workplace, Ford would be taken aside by his employers for a frank conversation about his future. Indeed, if he were any other employee of the City of Toronto, he might already have lost his job. But politics operates by different rules. Indeed, the Ford brothers are being rewarded now with a new national TV show.
Too many of us watching the events unfold in Toronto are forgetting the star of this reality TV show is a real person. Rob Ford exists neither for our entertainment nor the advancement of a political cause. He’s a human being.
It’s unfortunate that we continue to view the Rob Ford story as a battle of political factions or a source of humour. Both reactions overlook the underlying truth: it’s a human tragedy playing out before our eyes. Barring an intervention from someone who truly cares about Ford and not just his politics, his life — not his career, his life — will continue to unravel with catastrophic consequences. And too many of us — especially those who claim to be his supporters — will have enabled his behaviour and therefore contributed to his demise.