Renaming stadium to honour Rob Ford sends wrong message
Re ‘Rob Ford Memorial Stadium’ proposal triggers gratitude, groans in
Toronto, Sept. 28 I was greatly dismayed to read of Mayor John Tory’s endorsement of the idea of renaming Centennial Park Stadium for former mayor Rob Ford.
The naming of public facilities for public figures should be reserved for those who leave behind an enduring legacy that has benefited or will benefit all Torontonians, and whose achievements commend them to the generations that follow.
Whatever Mr. Ford’s achievements were, the first thing that comes to the minds of many Torontonians — and even more so the memories of people outside our city — is his scandalplagued administration, from the crack video to Operation Brazen, to multiple episodes of public intoxication and possibly driving while under the influence, to video of him reading while driving, to his bowling over Councillor Pam McConnell in chambers, to domestic incidents, any one of which should automatically remove him from consideration for any monument being named in his dubious honour.
And let’s not forget that the crack video may be related to a murder.
How can such a man’s legacy be publicly honoured by a city whose highest public office he so dishonoured? Brian Bjolin, Toronto Etobicoke is not synonymous with Ford Nation. There is nothing wrong with the name Centennial Stadium, named for the 100th anniversary of Canada. To exchange that name for a man who brought chaos and embarrassment to Toronto city hall is ludicrous. It is a political move on the part of the Ford family. For that matter, why are any public places named after politicians? Diane Sullivan, Toronto I read with utmost disdain Mayor John Tory’s support of Doug Ford’s request to rename Centennial Park Stadium. What kind of a twisted message would we send to the citizens of Toronto, our youth and the rest of the world by honouring a man best known for heavy drinking, crack smoking,being abusive, vulgar and disrespectful of authority? Sure, he may be the “people’s mayor” in his riding, but the rest of our beautiful city would surely not only be flabbergasted but ashamed to have this buffoon honoured as such. Gabe Austerweil, Toronto As a lifelong resident of Etobicoke (not Ward 2), this has to be the worst idea I’ve ever heard from city hall (and there have been a lot of stupid ideas). Rob Ford’s tenure as our mayor speaks bombastically for itself.
To “honour” him by putting his name on any publicly owned facility deserves the ridicule that it’s receiving.
Years ago, I was the chair of the committee that chose the Volunteer of the Year in Etobicoke. Rest assured, there are hundreds of unknown (to the public) citizens of Etobicoke who deserve to have their names emblazoned on a public facility for the many years of volunteer service to the community. Rob Ford is definitely not one of them. David Matoc, Toronto We would not be considering this if Rob Ford were alive today. Why, then, would we rename a stadium just because he has passed away?
There are many people in this city who volunteer hours of their time in various youth sports organizations. There are many people in the city who donate money and equipment. Rob Ford was not “special” in this respect and he was not “special” in his tenure at city hall, so there is no need to rename the stadium. Wendy Brown, Toronto
“We would not be considering this if Rob Ford were alive today.” WENDY BROWN TORONTO