Toronto mayor Rob Ford crack scandal, Somalis own the evidence

[GaraadMon]

Why can't his some of his detractors seem to understand that regardless of his embarrassing theatrics, he's an elected official with one year left on his term? I've never liked the guy's politics, especially when considering his terrible transit policies. Also Safferz, if you'd known of his rapport with the Etobicoke-North community (specifically Rexdale) you would not have accused him of being a racist for saying something that many Torontonians, of all ethnicities, have voiced their concerns over. He's a terrible orator and lacks to ability to think before speaking, but a racist he is not.

[Yunis]

Safferz;951412 wrote:

.... He will finally be finished after this.

 

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agreed, they should let him loose. He is an embarrasment, reminds me of that ex.DC mayor Marion Barry

[Safferz]

Blackflash;951481 wrote:

Why can't his some of his detractors seem to understand that regardless of his embarrassing theatrics, he's an elected official with one year left on his term? I've never liked the guy's politics, especially when considering his terrible transit policies. Also Safferz, if you'd known of his rapport with the Etobicoke-North community (specifically Rexdale) you would not have accused him of being a racist for saying something that many Torontonians, of all ethnicities, have voiced their concerns over. He's a terrible orator and lacks to ability to think before speaking, but a racist he is not.

His rapport with certain neighbourhoods is irrelevant, he's a politician. He's made many racist comments, and it doesn't matter how many people in Toronto agree with them, the fact remains that it is racism.

[GaraadMon]

I only know of his references to East Asians as 'Orientals' and his statements about the number of immigrants settling in Toronto every year. Besides his poor choice of words and insensitivity to the butt-hurt of chronic complainants, there was nothing overtly racist about his statements. In fact, the issue of 70% of new Canadians settling in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver and in turn stressing the social programs of those 3 cities is not something that should be brushed aside because some choose to be trigger-happy with theirs screams of racism.

 

Strange how he gained a considerable portion of his support in the inner 'burbs, where many of Toronto's visible minorities live. It's seems to be the more gentrified and less immigrant friendly neighbourhoods of central Toronto that are the most outspoken against him.

[Safferz]

Update -- my brother spoke to the Toronto Star's public editor today, and she and the editor in chief agree that the article went too far, and they've made the reporters and the rest of the newsroom aware that the unnecessary use of "Somali" is insensitive and socially irresponsible. She's considering putting out a column this weekend about it, so will keep you guys posted if that appears.

[GaraadMon]

Safferz;951633 wrote:

Update -- my brother spoke to the Toronto Star's public editor today, and she and the editor in chief agree that the article went too far, and they've made the reporters and the rest of the newsroom aware that the unnecessary use of "Somali" is insensitive and socially irresponsible. She's considering putting out a column this weekend about it, so will keep you guys posted if that appears.

Wouldn't it be better if they just refrained from constantly referring to the alleged ethnicities of those involved? If the optics are an issue, having a related column mentioning Somalis would only serve to further ingrain the drug dealer's ethnicities in to the readers' minds.

[Safferz]

Blackflash;951646 wrote:

Wouldn't it be better if they just refrained from constantly referring to the alleged ethnicities of those involved? If the optics are an issue, having a related column mentioning Somalis would only serve to further ingrain the drug dealer's ethnicities in to the readers' minds.

It should have never been mentioned (the original Gawker story, for example, simply said the men were speaking a language other than English between each other), but it happened and I believe the story that went to print had 11 mentions of Somali, almost as many times as they mentioned crack in the article (12 times). So responsible journalism means addressing and admitting their mistake in that same forum.

[Faarax-Brawn]

Safferz;951228 wrote:

Official figures are something like 40,000 Somalis in Canada as a whole, but I believe (as do some community organizations here) that Toronto alone has more than that, perhaps as many as 100,000. I believe the Canadian Somali Congress says there are 200,000 Somali Canadians, most of whom live in Toronto.

 

If you mean demographics in Toronto in general, it's a hugely diverse city, about half the population born outside of Canada. I think it's 9% black.

Somalis tend to over count themselves in every where, In Minnesota, we claim to be close to 150k, the census figures were disappointing: This despite the fact that the government recruited dozens of Somalis to count Somalis. (Calaashan qolo walba dhowr dhalinyaro ayaa shaqa laga siiye,lol).

 

Seriously though, what benefit does the government of a particular country get by reducing numbers? it beats the whole purpose of planning, "nkt"

[Safferz]

^^ it's plausible when you consider that census figures rely on national origins (Somalia) but miss all the Somalis who come from or through other countries as immigrants to Canada. I'm sure all the TO folks here would agree that the number is awfully low.

[Faarax-Brawn]

Safferz;951658 wrote:

^^ it's plausible when you consider that census figures rely on national origins (Somalia) but miss all the Somalis who come from or through other countries as immigrants to Canada. I'm sure all the TO folks here would agree that the number is awfully low.

Its Plausible,

[GaraadMon]

Faarax-Brawn;951653 wrote:

Somalis tend to over count themselves in every where, In Minnesota, we claim to be close to 150k, the census figures were disappointing: This despite the fact that the government recruited dozens of Somalis to count Somalis. (Calaashan qolo walba dhowr dhalinyaro ayaa shaqa laga siiye,lol).

 

Seriously though, what benefit does the government of a particular country get by reducing numbers? it beats the whole purpose of planning, "nkt"

Unless Somalis have been ducking the mandatory censuses, I'd say your correct. Also, how else could groups like the Canadian Somali Congress justify the $1.4 million dollar funding for Somali at-risk youth in Alberta without fudging the statistics. The oldest reference I could find for these 100,000+ numbers in Canada was during an interview with a professor in Calgary

[Faarax-Brawn]

anyway is this the block who ran into a pillar or a wall or something like that?-

[Safferz]

He ran into a camera, I posted a vid on the first page lol.

 

PSA -- Gawker is fundraising to buy and publish the tape, you can donate here: http://gawker.com/we-are-raising-200-000-to-buy-and-publish-the-rob-ford-508230073

 

They already have 28k, and it was half of that when I last checked lol. I just donated.

[GaraadMon]

Safferz;951658 wrote:

^^ it's plausible when you consider that census figures rely on national origins (Somalia) but miss all the Somalis who come from or through other countries as immigrants to Canada. I'm sure all the TO folks here would agree that the number is awfully low.

The census accounts for this by asking what the 1st, 2nd and if nessecary 3rd languages are in a household. In the case of Somalis, who are more or less linguistically homogeneous, it can serve as an accurate marker of Somali population figures.

 

Here's an interesting tool from an old article on the CBC. It lets you view acceptance rates for refugees by country between the years 2006 and 2009. You'll notice the acceptance rates for countries where Somalis live in large numbers are among the highest.

 

 

Here's a great reference for getting an idea of the potential population of Somalis in Canada: Refugee Stats Comprehensive

[Safferz]

Thanks, I'll check the links out when I'm at my computer.