Close X
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
ADVT 
National

Toronto's mayor recommends stadium be renamed to honour Rob Ford

Darpan News Desk, 29 Sep, 2017 11:17 AM

    The mayor of Toronto is recommending that a stadium be named after his infamous predecessor — the late Rob Ford.

    In a letter to council, John Tory calls for the renaming of a stadium at Centennial Park, in the city's west end, to Rob Ford Memorial Stadium.

    Tory notes that Ford, who was a lifelong west-end resident, became known for his "unique approach to public service" after being elected to city council in November 2000 and he carried it on after being elected mayor in 2010.

    But he says Ford's community involvement went well beyond politics, and his passion for football led him to found the Newtonbrook North Stars in 1999 and a highly successful football program at Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School in 2002. He also established the Rob Ford Football Foundation, a program that helps fund football programs in high schools across the city.

    Tory says it would be fitting, in light of Ford's many years of work on football programs, to ename a football stadium to honour Ford, who died in March 2016 from a rare and aggressive form of cancer.

    Ford became a certified celebrity in light of his admitted crack cocaine use, alcohol abuse, lewd comments and at times outrageous behaviour that transformed his mayoral office into an unprecedented spectacle.

    Ford, whose clarion call was "time to stop the gravy train," died at age 46, 18 months after a cancer diagnosis scuttled his bid for a second term as mayor, although he easily won election as a councillor in his west-end ward.

    Tory also is recommending council honour two other city council members who have died recently — deputy mayor Pam McConnell, and Coun. Ron Moeser.

    In consultation with the McConnell and Moeser families, Tory said he would convene panels of councillors and community members in order to determine suitable public properties that could be renamed in their memory.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    B.C. Groups Say Federal Cash To Help Sexual-Assault Victims And Diversity Work

    Seven organizations that received funding include the Ending Violence Association of B.C. and the Women Against Violence Against Women Rape Crisis Centre.

    B.C. Groups Say Federal Cash To Help Sexual-Assault Victims And Diversity Work

    Crews Struggle With Southeastern B.C. Wildfires As Conditions Ease Elsewhere

    Crews Struggle With Southeastern B.C. Wildfires As Conditions Ease Elsewhere
    CRANBROOK, B.C. — The BC Wildfire Service says the unprecedented, aggressive behaviour of three blazes in southeastern British Columbia has forced firefighting crews to withdraw from the area.

    Crews Struggle With Southeastern B.C. Wildfires As Conditions Ease Elsewhere

    Case Of Teens Charged In Naked Photo Ring Casts Shadow Over Nova Scotia Town

    Case Of Teens Charged In Naked Photo Ring Casts Shadow Over Nova Scotia Town
    BRIDGEWATER, N.S. — This small Nova Scotia town is reckoning with the long shadow of a criminal prosecution involving so many of its children.

    Case Of Teens Charged In Naked Photo Ring Casts Shadow Over Nova Scotia Town

    273 Kilograms Of Suspected Cocaine Seized From A Boat On Nova Scotia's South Shore

    273 Kilograms Of Suspected Cocaine Seized From A Boat On Nova Scotia's South Shore
    The Canada Border Services Agency says its officers boarded a small vessel in Lunenburg County on Sunday that had arrived from Saint Martin.

    273 Kilograms Of Suspected Cocaine Seized From A Boat On Nova Scotia's South Shore

    Father Tells Calgary Trial He Wanted To Get Help For Disabled Daughter

    Father Tells Calgary Trial He Wanted To Get Help For Disabled Daughter
    CALGARY — The father of a disabled woman who weighed just over 50 pounds when she died has testified he told his ex-wife they should take their daughter to see a doctor, but she would only say she would think about it.

    Father Tells Calgary Trial He Wanted To Get Help For Disabled Daughter

    B.C. Economy Forecasted To Remain Healthy Through 2020: Credit Union

    B.C. Economy Forecasted To Remain Healthy Through 2020: Credit Union
    British Columbia's economy has "fired on nearly all cylinders" this year, a financial institution says.

    B.C. Economy Forecasted To Remain Healthy Through 2020: Credit Union