Rob Ford’s Apology and Promise to Continue is Unacceptable
Mayor Rob Ford has apologized sincerely for something , he won’t say what. He then spends part of the rest of his Sunday radio show attacking the media and his opponents who keep hounding him…despite the fact that what they were hounding him for seems to be true. He says “no one will want to get into politics” after this kind of thing. Isn’t that his fault? He’s hurting our democracy by playing to the “politics is a pointless game” idea.
Some Context
The Mayor of Toronto is the elected leader of the largest city in the country; it’s the position which gets the single largest number of votes of any office in the country including the Prime Minister since federal ridings are only around 100,000 voters and the mayor is vote for by all Torontonians (around 800,000 people voted in the last election)
He won the election outright, gaining 47% of the vote with the next candidates getting 35% and 11% respectively, both much more centrist or left leaning candidates. So, while he definitely won the election, beware of anyone who says a majority of Torontonians elected him, most of those 53% of voters did not want him to win. So shouldn’t he have some sense of representation of that majority as well?
He’s Hurting Our Democracy
For leader of this great city to sit there and say that politics is dirty, that you won’t get a fair shake is the media don’t like you, that it’s all run by the elites, that hurts everyone. It discourages people from running for office, it discourages people from voting. Rob Ford has no respect for democracy or for the city he thinks he is helping so much.
His Policies
He’s so focussed on saving pennies here and there, on fighting the wrongs which conflict his common sense, that he doesn’t look at the bigger picture. He’s tearing the city apart, pitting downtown against suburb, drivers against bicyclists, and brother against brother. He’s also hurting the image of Toronto around the world. Wherever I go now and say I’m from Toronto the conversation inevitably turn immediately to Rob Ford and the crack video. That’s not how I want to be talking about my hometown. Rob Ford and his brother seems to assume that only some people really know what is right and everyone else is not just wrong but vindictive and out to get him. Well, people can just disagree, and you can actually be wrong about what is best for the city.
My Opinion
I don’t think the mayor of a Canadian city should smoke crack. If he did he should resign. I also don’t think he should wander the streets blindingly drunk, if he does, he should apologize and consider resigning. I also don’t think they should lie about any of these activities to the media and attack journalists for doing their job as “out to get him”. This is especially abhorrent if they turn out to be right! People complain about convicting someone with a trial and the “court of public opinion”. For a politician the court of public opinion is the only court that matters, it’s the electorate that hires and can fire you. If you it is clear you have broken your promise they hired you on, you should have the decency, even feel the obligation, to resign and ask them again for their support. The Mayor and his supporters say “everyone makes mistakes”. Yes, they do, and if they make them over and over and lie about and attack those who call them out on it what do you do with a person like that? Elected politicians need to be held to a higher standard, they represent us in the interests of society.
The Mayor of Toronto should resign. Now.
If he really wants the people of Toronto to give him another chance then he should run for Mayor next year, as he has promised and let the electorate resign. Saying sorry and then saying you’ll “fight like never before” isn’t the right answer. What are you fighting? Truth? The Media? The people of Toronto who are disappointed in you? Why are you fighting Rob?
Maybe it’s time you just stop, for your own good and for the good of the city you claim to love so much.
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Pop The Stack 
DISCIPLINE COMMITTEE OF THE ONTARIO COLLEGE OF TEACHERS
BETWEEN:
ONTARIO COLLEGE OF TEACHERS
and
GORDANA ANNE STEFULIC
NOTICE OF HEARING
THE INVESTIGATION COMMITTEE OF THE ONTARIO COLLEGE OF TEACHERS, pursuant to section 26, subsection (5) of the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996 (the “Act”), Statutes of Ontario, 1996, chapter 12, has directed that the matter hereinafter described regarding the conduct or actions of Gordana Anne Stefulic, Certificate No176236 , be referred to the Discipline Committee of the Ontario College of Teachers.
IT IS ALLEGED that Gordana Anne Stefulic is guilty of professional misconduct as defined in subsections 30(2) and 40(1.1) of the Act in that:
(a) she failed to maintain the standards of the profession, contrary to Ontario
Regulation 437/97, subsection 1(5);
(b) she abused a student or students physically, sexually, verbally, psychologically or emotionally, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, subsection 1(7) and engaged in sexual abuse of a student or students of a nature defined in sections 1 and 40 (1.1) of the Act;
(c) she failed to comply with the Education Act, Revised Statutes of Ontario, 1990, chapter E.2, and specifically section 264(1)(c) thereof or the Regulations made under that Act, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, subsection 1(15);
(d) she committed acts that having regard to all the circumstances would reasonably be regarded by members as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, subsection 1 and
(e) she engaged in conduct unbecoming a Member, contrary to Ontario Regulation
437/97, subsection 1(19).
PARTICULARS OF THESE ALLEGATIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS:
1. Gordana Anne Stefulic (the “Member”) is a member of the Ontario College of
Teachers.
2. At all material times, the Member was employed by the Toronto District School Board
(the “Board”) as a Principal at [XX] School (the “School”) in Ontario.
3. During the 2007-2008 academic year, the Member granted and/or permitted Student No. 1
and Student No. 2, two male students of the Board under the age of sixteen years, entry
and/or access to her Facebook page and by so doing, allowed Student No. 1 and Student
No. 2 to access inappropriate and/or view material including:
(a) A photographic image of a male person without a shirt, wearing a Speedo bathing suit and titled, “Meal of the Day”;
(b) A drawing showing a naked woman depicting her breasts and a naked man holding a string which was tied to his well endowed penis.
4. During the 2007-2008 academic year, the Member,
(a) permitted a student and/or students to have access to a personal laptop computer which she knew or ought to have known contained images of a pornographic nature or erotic nature, which appeared to depict young adolescent males;
(b) permitted a student and/or students to have access to the classroom computer which she knew or ought to have known contained pornographic images and/or violent cartoon images and/or images of naked bodies;
(c) requested and/or allowed Student No. 3, Student No. 4 and Student No. 5, male students, to give her a massage; and
(d) made no efforts to deter or prevent a student and/or students from seeking to massage her back.
THE DISCIPLINE COMMITTEE WILL HOLD A HEARING pursuant to sections 30 and 32 of the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996, to decide whether the allegations are true and whether Gordana Anne Stefulic is guilty of professional misconduct. A copy of the Rules of Procedure of the Discipline Committee and of the Fitness to Practise Committee will be provided upon request.
THE DISCIPLINE COMMITTEE WILL MEET on Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. to set a date for the hearing of this matter. The Committee will meet on the 12th floor of the offices of the Ontario College of Teachers at 101 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario.
YOU ARE ENTITLED TO BE PRESENT ON THE ABOVE MENTIONED DATE AND AT THE HEARING AND TO BE REPRESENTED BY LEGAL COUNSEL.
If you wish, you or your legal counsel may contact College Counsel to discuss the scheduling of a hearing date to determine whether a date for the hearing can be agreed upon. If a date for the hearing can be agreed to, in accordance with Rule 4.02(2) of the Rules of Procedure of the Discipline Committee and of the Fitness to Practise Committee, the hearing will proceed on the agreed date.
IF A DATE FOR THE HEARING OF THIS MATTER IS NOT AGREED UPON AND YOU DO NOT ATTEND TO SET A DATE FOR THE HEARING OF THIS MATTER, THE DISCIPLINE COMMITTEE MAY PROCEED IN YOUR ABSENCE TO SET A DATE FOR THE HEARING. NOTICE OF THE HEARING DATE WILL BE PROVIDED TO YOU IN WRITING AT YOUR LAST KNOWN ADDRESS AS SHOWN IN THE RECORDS OF THE COLLEGE.
IF YOU DO NOT ATTEND ON THE SCHEDULED HEARING DATE, THE DISCIPLINE COMMITTEE MAY PROCEED IN YOUR ABSENCE AND YOU WILL NOT BE PROVIDED WITH ANY FURTHER NOTICE OF PROCEEDINGS.
IF THE DISCIPLINE COMMITTEE FIND YOU GUILTY of professional misconduct, you are liable to the penalties set out in section 30 of the Act.
A MEMBER whose conduct is being investigated in proceedings before the Discipline Committee may examine before the hearing any written or documentary evidence that will be produced or any report, the contents of which will be given as evidence at the hearing. You or your representative may contact the office of Caroline Zayid of McCarthy Tétrault LLP, solicitor for the College in this matter, at Suite 5300, Toronto Dominion Bank Tower, Toronto, ON M5K 1E6, telephone 416-601-
7768.
Date: January 14,2013
Michael Salvatori, OCT
Registrar and Chief Executive Officer
Ontario College of Teachers
12th Floor, 101 Bloor Street West
Toronto, ON M5S 0A1
TO: Gordana Anne Stefulic
[XX] [XX]
AND TO: Calderoni Steer Wanderon McTavish & Smith LLP
2 Sheppard Ave E
North York ON M2N 5Y7
Dale Stump, Solicitor for the
Member
B E T W E E N :
ONTARIO COLLEGE OF TEACHERS – and – GORDANA ANNE STEFULIC
DISCIPLINE COMMITTEE OF THE ONTARIO COLLEGE OF TEACHERS
NOTICE OF HEARING
McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Suite 5300
Toronto Dominion Bank Tower
Toronto, ON M5K 1E6
Caroline R. Zayid
Tel. 416 601-7768
Fax 416 868-0673
David E. Leonard
Tel. 416 601-7684
Fax 416 868-0673
Solicitors for the
Ontario College of Teachers
#12685381