One
is a leader with a whopping 88 per cent approval rating, a guy as deft
with a witty comment as he is with a flapjack flipper. The other – well,
not so much.
If you ever needed more proof that when it comes to
top bosses, Toronto got the short end of the stick, look no further than
Saturday morning, when Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi and Toronto’s Rob
Ford square off for the first time, mano-a-mano.
Mind you, the
verdict was already in before they even opened their mouths: when our
40-year-old, Harvard educated leader hit the stage, it was to a roar of
cheers from the cross-country crowd of thousands at Nathan Phillips
Square.
Ford – who may even be out of a job come Monday morning
after a judge rules on whether he was in a conflict of interest when he
took part in a city council vote – was greeted by a chorus of boos.
Which
is actually a step up from Tuesday, when he played a game of catch
football here as a pre-Grey Cup stunt. A crowd of onlookers heckled his
performance, yelling out “Resign!” while some held placards that read
“No Way to Run a City.”
Things could easily have gone downhill in a
similar fashion Saturday, as the verbal sparring match began in this
mismatched Cowtown-versus-Hogtown showdown.
Nenshi elicited
laughter when, after being handed the Toronto Argonauts jersey, he
quipped, “I’ll use it to wipe down my car when I get back. It’s parked
outside” – a comment answered by Ford’s stomping on his Calgary
Stampeders jersey.
Ford, who mumbles more than speaks, responded
by throwing a rubber football into the crowd. The force of his throw was
so exerting he fell arse over teakettle, as the saying goes, losing the
white hat Nenshi had bestowed upon him moments earlier.
“Nenshi
for mayor – of Toronto!” yelled out Toronto emergency doctor Jacques
Lee, who even offered “a two for one: you can have his brother, too!” in
reference to Doug Ford, a city councillor who’s only a little less
popular than his brother.
After everything he’s been through
lately, Ford must have been relieved to find himself in a crowd of Grey
Cup fans. This is a subculture more interested in seeing who can outdo
one another with crazy costumes and face paint rather than political
stances.
Still, some politicians weren’t taking any chances.
Alberta Premier Alison Redford, who’s been getting a rough ride back
home this week over allegations of improper expenses and political
donations, slipped out the back after a few flapjack flips and a quick
speech before the mayoralty showdown.
At the pancake flipping
station hosted by the Calgary Grey Cup committee, Nenshi continued his
charm offensive against the mostly listless Ford. “Two years later, I
still stink at this,” cried out our mayor as he hammed it up by letting a
few fly across the griddle and onto a foil tray.
As Ford
continued to mumble incoherently into the microphones – I do believe I
caught him saying something about feeling like “a kid at Christmas,” but
it could just as well have been “a big good riddance” – it was clear
that Nenshi was working overtime not to let his eyes roll into the back
of his head. Yes, I know he’ll deny even considering such an
uncharitable thought, but I stand by my ability to read
micro-expressions.
For the opposing team’s
visitors, having their popular mayor on hand was the icing on the cake
to what so far has been a great week of celebrating Canadian football
and its cross-country community.
“We have been treated so well,
everywhere we go,” said a red-wigged Anton Lewis, who was thrilled to
pose with Nenshi for a photograph. “I know our mayor will have the same
experience.”
While the real politics of the day take a back seat
to sport, there is still a fair bit of controversy to be had if you look
for it. “We are cheering for the Argos,” Saskatchewan Roughrider fan
David Ash told me. “Your guys mooned our fans back in September,” he
said as he shook his head as he recalled the incident involving
Stampeder Jon Cornish, who earlier in the week was named the CFL’s
Outstanding Canadian. “That wasn’t a nice thing to do.”
Fortunately,
we had Mayor Nenshi on hand to inject a bit of kindness back into the
celebration. “It’s a game for the ages: two great Canadian cities,
playing for the 100th Grey Cup,” said Nenshi, who kick-started the
charitable component to the usual mayoralty CFL competition. “If you’re
going to make a bet, bet on the food bank – and we’ll all win.”
That’s one East-West battle won. The one that matters to this crowd, though, is still to come.
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