Ford Fest allowed in city park despite rule against candidate promotion events
Other candidates’ campaigns question whether the city isn’t breaking its own rules by granting a permit.

TheStar.com
July 18, 2014
Daniel Dale

Toronto’s government has an explicit rule: no permits will be granted to people looking to use city parks for the “use or promotion of a particular candidate” during an election period.

Rob Ford just issued the invitation for his annual Ford Fest barbecue. The location: Thomson Memorial Park in Scarborough.

City spokeswoman Jackie DeSouza said the permit has not been granted yet — but that it won’t break the rules. The explanation: the Fords did not describe Ford Fest as a political event on their application.
Rather, DeSouza said, they called it a “special event open to the public.”

“Staff have to go by what it says on the permit application,” she said.

She added: “It would be up to the mayor and Councillor Ford to ensure the policy is adhered to at the event.”

At last year’s Ford Fest in Etobicoke, Ford gave a speech in which he urged supporters to vote for him, to distribute campaign literature, and to put up campaign signs. Volunteers handed out “Ford Nation” t-shirts in exchange for supporters’ contact information.

Candidate David Soknacki said Ford Fest is an obvious campaign event. He called on the city to “enforce its own rules.”

“The fact that a permit has been issued for a campaign event is wrong,” Soknacki said. “It’s a campaign event, pure and simple; it’s not a family celebration. It precludes other uses of the park. And it dedicates public space for a specific campaign. It’s wrong.”

The spokesman for candidate Olivia Chow said the city’s approval of Ford Fest “runs contrary” to the instructions officials have given Chow’s campaign.

“We hope it’s not an exception because of the mayor’s position. And if it’s indeed not an exception, then Olivia will probably be holding ‘special events open to the public’ in parks across the city,” Jamey Heath said.

Heath said he can’t offer a final judgment on Ford Fest until after it occurs. But he added: “I don’t see how an event of this nature in the middle of an election campaign can be considered anything but a campaign event. There’s no purpose to doing this unless it is to get people to vote for Rob Ford.”

The event is scheduled for Friday, July 25. Ford campaign spokesman Jeff Silverstein did not respond to a request for comment.

The mayor holds Ford Fest at least once a year, even during non-election years. It has grown from a shindig in his mother’s expansive Etobicoke backyard to a massive park extravaganza with a Ferris wheel.

Ford Fest usually draws several thousand people — many of them devotees, many also drawn by the free burgers and free alcohol. Friday’s event, coming soon after Ford’s return from rehab, will not include alcohol.

This is the second consecutive year in which a Ford Fest permit has been controversial. In 2013, organizers of a high school cross-country meet were forced to hastily change the race route when they were told Ford had been given a permit for the same park they had reserved months prior; city officials said they had made a simple mistake.

The city has been criticized on criticized on several other occasions for using public resources to aid the mayor.