Doug Ford trying to stare down a reporter for daring to ask questions
Doug Ford has been continuing his "overhaul" to health services in Ontario by closing several overdose prevention sites and giving them a few days to pack up. Doug has so far refused to comment about his action despite calls from medical professionals, emergency responders, and the public at large for these sites to remain open because they save lives and help addicts recover and get sober, but those close to Doug say that his reasons are more personal. It has been reported that Doug is fervently against these sites for two reasons, the first out of fear that his family members will be seen at one of these sites, and the second that these sites have been undercutting Doug's main business by removing his long term clients.
The Ford family has had a long history with drug addiction. Eldest sibling Kathy Ford has a long going relationship with drug addiction, with rumors that she started drinking and doing hard drugs in high school, and has been involved in several incidents revolving around drugs, including letting known drug dealers live with her and sell drugs from the Ford Family home. Despite this she has reportedly never sought help with her addiction, unlike the youngest Ford sibling, the infamous Rob Ford. Rob Ford gained worldwide notoriety after he became "The Crack Mayor of Toronto" when a video of him smoking crack cocaine surfaced. As Rob had spent nearly a year denying he had ever taken any hard drugs before being forced to reveal he'd been lying, his family forced him to go to rehab in order to redeem his public image, and while he managed a brief rehab course, he passed from cancer before he completed any long term rehabilitation. Given the public humiliation the Ford family suffered from the later incident, and how it thrust them onto the global stage in a negative light, it is speculated that Doug has a dislike for services that shine a light on addiction due to reminding him of these negative events he'd rather have suppressed.
The other reason people think Doug is shutting down addiction support services is due to the rumors that the Ford family has been in the drug business since the 80s, with Doug as the ring leader, and that he hates services that helps addicts get clean, reducing his potential clients. The Ford family was the main supplier of hashish in Etobicoke in the 80s before expanding to other drugs, using various means to maintain that position, to the point where the eldest brother, Randy Ford, ended up being convicted in a drug related kidnapping. The Fords managed to keep the incident out of the news at the time, but the siblings have kept those that worked with them in drug trafficking close, even bringing them aboard their political campaigns. Rob Ford in particular employed numerous individuals known to the police, something the police themselves publicly called a concern, and so many suspected drug dealers work at Deco Labels and Tags, the the Ford family business, that many Etobicoke residents joke that it's little more than a front for drug trafficking these days.
They are reportedly not surprised that Doug is against anything that bring addiction to the public light, as an Etobicoke residence who wished to remain anonymous said that "it makes it harder to do all that business you can only do in the shadows, and Doug Ford has always been the shadowiest of people. He was his brother's shadow up until he died, and now he'll always be in Rob's cracked shadow. I think he's still got that old school mindset, that these sites that are trying to help people are actually his competition, and they're taking away his customers. He's not stupid, he knows that getting elected to such high positions in politics is fickle, it can swing back and forth, so he's probably trying to make things easier for the Ford family business in the long term by closing down these things that help people get away from drugs."
All of these are reportedly factors in Doug Ford's closing of overdose prevention sites and addiction support services, and as soon as Doug Ford reveals what he's doing we'll report on it here, but given the Ford family's history of dishonesty, don't hold your breath.
No comments:
Post a Comment