With apologies to Prof. Roy Piperberg –

The enlightened citizens of Toronto have just elected Rob Ford their new Mayor. Mr. Ford attempted to do a pre-arranged interview with the CBC’s As It Happens, all the while coaching a football team. My guess is he was going for the folksy angle, but he came off instead as a bumbling fool with an utter contempt for what he probably views as elitist Toronto media.

Either way the people of Toronto now have a fool steering the city-ship for a few years; the questions are thus:

1- Has Toronto just been blown-over by a Tea-Bagger by any other name?

2- Are a lot of Torontonians wishing they had went out and voted?

3- Is Ford’s election the dark underside of the Megacity project, and is suburban Toronto really that different from Toronto’s urbanites?

I say yes to all three: a quick reminder to all our Toronto friends out there – rent’s cheap here, life is generally inexpensive, and you know you want to practice your french to meet a nice Québecois girl or guy – stop putting it off and move to Montréal already!