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rfmcdonaldThis news has made national headlines, and for good reason.
There have been calls from religious and political figures, local and otherwise, to deal with gun violence. The neighbourhood of Rexdale, a neighbourhood in northern Etobicoke and in the northwest of the amalgamated City of Toronto, has long had a reputation for random gun violence as well as high rates of crime and poverty, at least by Canadian standards.
It's also worth noting that Rexdale includes the Ward 2 where Rob Ford built his political career. He was reelected here repeatedly, up to the 2014 election. His famous drunken rant in a restaurant occurred in Rexdale.
Why? Simply put, Ford's populist stance appealed strongly to people who felt, mostly rightly, that they were marginalized in a larger city driven by downtown concerns. Jeet Heer's 2014 Toronto Life "Rexdale isn’t perfect, but I prefer it to the hypocrisy of downtown" does a great job of explaining this alienation and how the Ford family exploited this alienation.
Alienation, combined with suffering, produces anti-establishment figures. Who knew?
Candice Rochelle Bobb, 35, of Malton, was in the back seat of a car near John Garland Boulevard and Jamestown Crescent in suburban Rexdale when someone in a vehicle driving in the opposite direction started shooting, striking the pregnant woman, according to Homicide Det.-Sgt. Mike Carbone, who provided an update Monday morning.
"For some reason, only known to the offender at this point, that vehicle was certainly targeted," said Carbone about the vehicle that Bobb was sitting in.
The three other people with Bobb were not hurt and Bobb, was driven to Etobicoke General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead and the baby was delivered. After the delivery, the baby was transported to the trauma centre at Sunnybrook hospital.
The baby is now in stable condition, according to Carbone, who would not reveal any further details on the child, including sex.
There have been calls from religious and political figures, local and otherwise, to deal with gun violence. The neighbourhood of Rexdale, a neighbourhood in northern Etobicoke and in the northwest of the amalgamated City of Toronto, has long had a reputation for random gun violence as well as high rates of crime and poverty, at least by Canadian standards.
It's also worth noting that Rexdale includes the Ward 2 where Rob Ford built his political career. He was reelected here repeatedly, up to the 2014 election. His famous drunken rant in a restaurant occurred in Rexdale.
Why? Simply put, Ford's populist stance appealed strongly to people who felt, mostly rightly, that they were marginalized in a larger city driven by downtown concerns. Jeet Heer's 2014 Toronto Life "Rexdale isn’t perfect, but I prefer it to the hypocrisy of downtown" does a great job of explaining this alienation and how the Ford family exploited this alienation.
Because of Ford’s antics, Rexdale has become a major journalistic stomping ground. Although newspapers like the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail have done a top-notch job of exposing Ford’s many nefarious deeds and habitual mendacity, I’m appalled by the way they’ve depicted Ford’s milieu. Journalistic accounts of Rexdale are written in the same tone of anxious amazement as Victorian explorers’ reports from Africa. The National Post once described Rexdale as “blighted and violence-plagued,” and on another occasion alluded to “the wilds of Islamic Rexdale.” The Globe’s publisher has said his newspaper is only interested in readers who make more than $100,000 a year, which by implication means his paper isn’t for the cab drivers and factory workers who live in Rexdale.
Despite his buffoonery, Rob Ford’s political prowess should never be underestimated. He doesn’t reflexively look down on Rexdale. He knows his way around it all too well. Ford once promised to make “Rexdale the new Rosedale.” This typical Fordian flourish earned him many a snide laugh in downtown Toronto yet endeared him to his core constituency. He might be promising the stars, but at least he takes Rexdale seriously. Ford’s right-wing populism derives its power from understanding the aspirations of Rexdalers for projects like the expansion of Woodbine Racetrack into a shopping and casino complex. Although the billion-dollar project fell apart, Ford’s efforts on its behalf earned him street cred. What do Ford’s opponents have to offer Rexdale, aside from austerity and condescension?
Alienation, combined with suffering, produces anti-establishment figures. Who knew?
