Thursday, February 6, 2014

Airdate set for Ford brothers' YouTube show

TORONTO - Mayor Rob Ford’s YouTube show isn’t online until next week but one of his mayoral rivals is already giving it the thumbs down.

The mayor’s office released a trailer for “Ford Nation” on Thursday with a promise that the first episode of the Internet show will be posted Monday.

It is the first time the Ford brothers have had a talk show in any format since their Newstalk 1010 radio show was cancelled in the wake of the mayor’s crack cocaine scandal and after a one-episode run of their “Ford Nation” TV show on Sun News Network.

In the trailer posted Thursday afternoon, Mayor Ford and Councillor Doug Ford can be seen teasing each other and singing their praises with a Ford Nation backdrop.

Mayor Ford is shown asking viewers to judge him by the job he’s done at City Hall.

“Please judge me on my record not my personal life,” he said.


The YouTube series is meant to “connect with a broader audience,” the mayor’s office said in a press release.

“The Ford Nation Series, produced by volunteers, will cover a wide range of topics, from politics to sports and community,” the mayor’s office stated. “Mayor Ford and Councillor Ford encourage everyone to subscribe to their new (YouTube) channel and hear from them, directly and unfiltered.”

Other Ford Nation videos were visible online Thursday with titles like “Rob Ford comes clean” and “Another hard ball question” but those videos were not able to be viewed by the general public.

Supriya Dwivedi, David Soknacki’s campaign spokesman, took a dim view of the coming show.

“It’s clear that the mayor thinks he’s going to be able to win this election by being Rob Ford: The celebrity,” Dwivedi said Thursday. “It’s rather unfortunate for him, however, that the people of Toronto are looking for a leader to deal with the actual issues this city is facing, such as transit and jobs, and not just for someone who will make the rounds on the late night TV talk shows.”

Asked about the mayor’s office issuing a press release about the YouTube show, Dwivedi said it wasn’t surprising Ford was “using taxpayer resources to put out what is blatantly campaign material.

“The mayor has played fast and loose with the rules in the past, and this is no different,” she said. “For someone who constantly claims to respect the taxpayer, the mayor has an awfully odd way of showing it.”

His own YouTube series isn’t the only air time the mayor is getting this week.

A new music video from the band Korn for the song, “Spike in My Veins,” features lots of news footage of Ford along with clips of U.S. politicians like U.S. President Barack Obama and celebrities including Miley Cyrus and Kanye West.
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