There are two lessons we can take from behind-the-scenes accounts of Rob Ford's campaign that were published last weekend: first, strangers who suddenly warm up to you on Twitter should be regarded with a healthy dose of skepticism (and if you're in possession of a potentially game-changing audio file that features the leading candidate promising to score you drugs, you should be extra vigilant); and, second, anything written about our new mayor by a certain "friendly" Toronto Sun columnist will be about as objective as campaign brochure copy.

The accounts are heavy on revelations, including a damning bit about Smitherman's campaign team using a provincial Liberal voters' list that Ford’s intel said would be voting for him and not Smitherman. But the most intriguing item involves a member of Ford’s campaign creating a Twitter pseudonym, “@QueensQuayKaren‚” —  posing as a George Smitherman supporter (appropriately twibboned)‚ ”who likes politics, my cat Mittens, and a good book" —  in a bid to deceive another Tweeter. It had come to the Ford campaign's attention that the target, Dieter Doneit-Henderson, had surreptitiously recorded a conversation wherein Ford promised a frantic Doneit-Henderson he would "fucking try to find" OxyContin for him, to alleviate the pain of his fibromyalgia (listen to the recording on Xtra.ca here). Worried that a media outlet might release this recording a week before the election, the Ford camp charged Fraser Macdonald, their 24-year old deputy communications director, with the task of retrieving the recording by any means necessary. 

Thus Macdonald contrived the fake twitter account: @QueensQuayKaren. Using this account, Macdonald slowly earned Doneit-Henderson's trust, through public tweets of support for Smitherman and private messages sent to Doneit-Henderson over the network. Finally, after continued prodding from “Karen,” Doneit-Henderson sent Macdonald the audio file.

But even with the recording in their possession, they still had to figure out how to handle the release of it. While Twitter had proved useful in deceiving a single, naive individual, the campaign needed a way to manipulate on a larger scale; enter the Toronto Sun and columnist Sue-Ann Levy.

"...the team decided to get out in front of the story and leak the recording to a friendly columnist at a local tabloid. A June 17 front-page headline blared that he'd been set up."

Thus, Levy contrived a Ford-friendly spin: “Ford feels 'set up' by drug tape.” Following publication of the Sun piece, Ford held a press conference and spun the story in his favour. 

Though his job was complete, Macdonald continued to tweet from the account. Here are a few of the more charming examples:

 

 

He even chimed in on QuAIA and Pride Toronto (note: Rob Ford did not participate in the parade):

 

  For the entire list of the fake tweets, check out this Torontoist post.

UPDATE

(Oct 27): In a phone interview with xtra.ca on Tuesday, CTBC program manager Thumi Siva countered claims made by Miracle Family Temple’s lead pastor.

Siva said Pastor David Loganathan is "100 percent responsible for the ad.... He's personally responsible for it,” he said. “We don't have anything against George Smitherman or Rob Ford, as we stay neutral." Since the Miracle Family Temple is a long-time customer of the station, Siva said that station staff didn't review the advertisement before airing it.

In a follow-up call to Pastor Loganathan, he said, "the Church has nothing to do with it. I have nothing to say to you," before abruptly hanging up.

Immediately following Ford's win on Monday Pastor Loganathan expressed his support for the new mayor via Twitter: "God Bless Rob Ford new Toronto mayor. He is an answer to our prayers. Many Christians have prayed and voted for this landslide victory."  

 

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With only hours until Toronto voters decide who will become their new mayor, an already heated campaign took a twisted turn this weekend as some in the Smitherman campaign accused the Rob Ford camp of backing an anti-gay ad broadcast on Tamil Radio station CTBC- Canadian Tamil Broadcasting Corporation.

Here's a translation of the ad, along with the ad itself (via vijaysappani.com):

The ad has since been pulled by the station. Since the ad had been played during a show produced by the Miracle Family Temple, a Christian-Tamil organization, some suspected the Temple itself had paid for the ad, but in an interview with xtra.ca, senior pastor David Loganatha of the Miracle Family Temple "categorically" denied any involvement with the ad. "Maybe it was played during our program, but we had nothing to do with it," said Loganatha.

Adrienne Batra, head of communications for the Rob Ford campaign, says the Ford campaign itself is not responsible for the ad. Batra says the campaign is "appalled" by it and compared the reference to Smitherman's homosexuality to disparaging comments made about Ford's weight. "We have no idea where this ad came from. They're alluding to his lifestyle choices, and no one feels ill-feelings for his choice." UPDATE: @RobFordTeam (the official Twitter account of the Rob Ford campaign) wrote: "I do not condone the recent Tamil Radio ad. I support diversity & have no issue with others' lifestyle choices. #voteTO" 

Sivakaran Gunaratnam, a queer Tamil in Toronto, calls the ads "pretty disturbing" and an "attack" on queer Tamils like himself. "It plays on preconceived notions of what being Tamil means — implying there are no queer Tamils. Regardless of who paid for the ads, it's insulting to say there are no queer Tamils." He points to the success of programs and services for queer Tamils like Snehithan and ASAAP as indications of a thriving queer Tamil community. 

At this time, calls to CTBC have gone unanswered. 

Just last week Rob Ford skipped a planned 519 mayoral debate on local and LGBT issues citing previous commitments.  

Rob Ford may not have been at the mayoral debate at The 519 Church Street Community Centre Monday night, but that didn't stop the two other candidates or audience members from calling him a coward for not showing up.

Even before the debate got rolling, moderator Mathieu Chantelois called Ford's absence "disappointing."

"He's scared!" someone yelled from the middle of the audience, a standing-room-only crowd numbering around 300, which was largely divided between those wearing green Joe Pantalone shirts or purple George Smitherman shirts.

The debate was cut short by The 519 after Ford told Xtra last week that he could not attend due to "scheduling conflicts," said Matthew Cutler, manager of resource development and communication at The 519.

More time was shaved off the debate when Smitherman announced he too had a previous commitment and would be leaving the debate early. The debate lasted only about 30 minutes in total.

"There was a debate?" said Ward 27 candidate Susan Gapka. "I sat down, then everyone got up and left."

 Many in the crowd were shocked to hear Ford blew off the debate entirely. Ashleigh Gaul, 28, who was seated in the front row, just shook her head.

"That kinda stinks," she said. "I was really interested to hear how he reacts."

Bob Shearer, 65, said he was undecided about which candidate to vote for until the debate.

"When I see that Mr Ford doesn't have enough courage to appear in front of this group, my vote will go to Smitherman," he said. "I made my decision tonight. If Rob Ford can't set aside some time for tonight's debate, that's the end of it for me."

Before going on the attack against Pantalone, Smitherman reminded people about "the elephant in the room," vote-splitting. 

"For queers, wannabe queers and friends of queers, I have always been there," Smitherman said.

Some of the issues discussed included how the candidates will promote new businesses in the queer community, whether they support removing gender-specific questions on application forms, if they support increasing or decreasing funding allocation for community AIDS prevention work and what they plan to do about the growing bedbug problem in the Church and Wellesley area.

Smitherman and Pantalone were most divided on the question of supporting the creation of safe injection sites for drug users.

"I do not support safe injection sites because I am not convinced of its merits," Smitherman said.

Pantalone disagreed.

"So where will you put the safe injection site?" Smitherman asked. Pantalone said, "We'll find a place."

Himy Syed, a mayoral candidate not considered a frontrunner, who took Ford's vacant chair, joined the two candidates halfway through. 

Although he tried, Syed was not allowed to answer questions from the audience.

"I could have even answered from Ford's perspective," he jokingly told Xtra after the debate.

UPDATE: Rob Ford's campaign says he will not be attending The 519 debate due to "previous commitments." The listing for the debate has been removed from his calendar of events, though the calendar entry — which includes a call for Ford supporters to volunteer at the event — remains (UPDATE 2: It's been deleted -- here's the screengrab). It reads: "Debate Information: This mayoral debate is taking place on October 18th at the Church Street Community Centre located at 519 Church Street. The debate will begin at 7pm. Supporter Information: Anyone interested in volunteering their time at the event should meet campaign staff at the event location at 6:30pm. Staff members will be there ready to set up supporters with campaign materials. We'll promote Rob for half an hour."

 

George Smitherman and Joe Pantalone are the only candidates confirmed to attend the mayoral debate on Monday, Oct 18 at the 519 Church Street Community Centre in Toronto, organizers say.

Matthew Cutler, manager of resource and development at The 519, said candidate Rob Ford is the only candidate who has not confirmed his attendance for the 7pm debate.

“It was pencilled into his calendar. We knew he was available,” he said. “But his campaign office said he couldn’t attend.” 

Although, as of Thursday afternoon, Ford’s website has the debate posted in his upcoming event listings.

Cutler said mayoral candidates should understand the importance of community dialogue, especially considering the large diverse community The 519 serves.

“I hope to hear dialogue of what the community will look like under the new council and how the mayor will play a role in that,” he said.

The town-hall debate is sponsored by The 519, Xtra and the Ontario Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

City council gave The 519 a jurisdiction bordered by Bloor to Gerrard streets and from Bay to Parliament streets, he said.

“The bulk of the issues will be LGBT related, but many of our members are straight newcomers,” Cutler said.

Cutler expects to hear a lot of discussion about homelessness, poverty and policing, issues that are not inherently queer issues, but are of interest to the queer community.

Xtra will live stream the event. Get your election questions ready to put to the mayoral hopefuls by contacting Xtra. Tweet Xtra your questions this weekend @Xtra_Canada or email andrea.houston@xtra.ca

Toronto mayoral candidates George Smitherman, Joe Pantalone and Rocco Rossi had teams at Sunday's AIDS Walk.

The walk is the biggest annual fundraiser for the AIDS Committee of Toronto. Organizers aimed to raise $330,000 this year. Find out more at aidswalktoronto.ca.

(image by Le-Ann Dolan, via ACT - check out more pics on ACT's Facebook page) 

According to their tweets, Sarah Thomson and Rob Ford's campaign teams were at the Ukrainian festival in Bloor West Village.

In 2006, Ford opposed funding for AIDS service organizations in Toronto on the basis that "If you are not doing needles and you are not gay, you wouldn't get AIDS probably."

Read more:

• Toronto mayoral candidate Rob Ford: "I support traditional marriage"