Ford Friend, Now Staffer, Made Calls To Mayor's Radio Show

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is employing a man who has made repeated calls to his weekly radio show in the past, CBC News has learned.

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The mayor and his brother, Coun. Doug Ford, have hosted a radio show on Newstalk 1010 for more than a year.

The Fords have long insisted that incoming calls aren’t planted and have said they do not screen out unfriendly calls.

Since they began hosting the show, a male caller identified as “Dave” has been put on air on at least six occasions, calling from different parts of the city.

CBC News has learned that the caller is David Price, the mayor’s current director of operations and logistics.

Sources say staff in the mayor's office put a stop to his calls once they found out the identity. The calls ended months before Price was hired by the mayor.

In March of last year, “Dave from Scarborough” called in to say that LRT stood for “left-wing redundant transit,” as opposed to light-rail transit.

The next month, the same “Dave from Scarborough” slammed the proposal from the city’s medical officer of health to reduce speed limits.

That May, a “Dave from Etobicoke” offered his take on stores charging for plastic bags:

“That, in my humble opinion, is fascism, and it's ludicrous that comrade [former mayor David] Miller and his merry band of big-brother, I know better than you, paternalistic, heavy-handed, Looney Tunes socialists should be setting the agenda of this great city of Toronto,” the caller said.

The radio station says it's not uncommon for callers to appear multiple times on a show.

Price did not return calls from CBC on this story.

He is a long-time friend of the Ford family and was involved in the election campaign of the mayor’s brother.

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.ca
Author: cbc