Finding the Fords, a life-long mission
Finding the Fords, a life-long mission
By Maria Assaf
TORONTO MAYORAL ELECTION
It all began in my first year of university. But even now, four years later, as I write these words, a feeling prevails that anything I say in the media could affect my ability to one day finally finding them. The big two. The ones that put this sleepy city into the world’s mainstream media.
DOUG FORD
Back in 2010, before Rob and Doug Ford were so infamous, I attended a mayoral debate where I thought of Rob, “this guy will never win.” He was giving a talk about arts funding at the Art Gallery of Ontario and he referred to the arts as “this funny stuff that we can’t afford.” He almost had not finished that sentence before the audience started booing him down.
This was my very first story and the first and last time I was to quote the mayor directly.
Throughout his four years in power, Ford’s PR disasters became known throughout the world and getting him to comment on any news story became a cynical joke among many a Toronto journalist.
I learned early on not to take it personally if the mayor’s PR team did not return my calls. I may have only been a student at the time, but since he began campaigning, Ford had also decided not to ever speak to outlets like the Toronto Star or NOW Magazine.
My first attempt to reach the man who claims to always pick up the phone to his constituents, happened during his first year as a mayor, and my first as a journalism student. Ironically, I was writing a story about an open letter the mayor got from City Hall’s press gallery asking him to stop snubbing media outlets.
I went through the usual conduits: his PR team, his secretary, his secretary’s email. No response for about a month. Finally, I got his former chief spokesperson to tell me briefly on the phone: “The mayor is not available for these issues… Ever.”
By the time I began freelancing, Ford had already become a world celebrity, answering his phone to the likes of U.S. humourist Jimmy Kimmel. Yet, he still did not wish to speak to me, even when I was writing a story about immigrant communities who supported his re-election.
Less than a month to this year’s election date, Rob’s brother Doug became the man of the moment. After his brother was admitted into a hospital for a tumour, Doug took the torch as mayoral candidate. This story was supposed to be a Q&A about Doug’s plans for mayor of Toronto.
This time, though, I thought I would finally do it. Interview a Ford. Not only was Doug known as the media-friendly brother, but I also counted with the help of Thomas S. Saras, president of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada, who knew the Fords personally.
Saras was kind enough to go to Doug’s office every day for a week to tell him about my request. But Doug was never there. Meanwhile, I repeatedly called Rob’s campaign offices in Scarborough and Etobicoke, which at this point had become Doug’s election headquarters.
At its best, I got a confused-sounding man on the line saying he would call me back, but he never did. At its worst, the receptionists would say they were not sure about how to get hold of the man whose own voice was recorded in the automated message of the phone number I was calling.
These campaign-office receptionists would tell me to call Doug’s office at City Hall and at City Hall, someone else would ask me to call back the campaign offices. Finding Doug was even tougher than the first time I tried to reach Rob. No one would even tell me or Saras who was acting as Doug’s PR person.
Finally, nearly a week after the deadline to hand in this article, I heard back from Saras with not a date, alas, but the phone number and email of Doug’s director of communications, Jeff Silverstein.
It came as a small victory, but it was too late for print.
Comments (1)