Mayoral farce in Toronto

Toronto’s 64th mayor, Rob Ford, was inaugurated on 7 December 2010 in an eccentric, even bizarre event without precedent in the Council chambers. The mayor’s chain of office, symbol of his authority, was presented to him not by a personage such as Chief Justice or Lieutenant Governor of the province, but rather by flamboyant tv commentator, CBC’s Don Cherry of Hockey Night in Canada, noted for bigotry and unabashed redneck sentiment.

Attired in ludicrous pink Cherry took the occasion to praise his mayoral protégé and to lash out at people he would marginalize, pinkos, left-wing weirdos, and bike riders.

“Bring on the clowns”, commented Councillor Pam McConnell (Centre Rosedale, ward 28).

When the mayor inaugurates his term by turning the podium over to a mean poseur "dripping sarcasm and hatred in all his soul",✶ what does that presage for the city?
✶ see: Jack Todd, Montreal Gazette, 13 December 2010