On being "world class"

For fifty years Toronto has aspired to "world class" status.

What does that mean?

Who remembers when Mayor Mel was ruminating about whether the natives would want to toss him in a stew pot when he visited Africa?

That was pretty world-classless.

Now we've got Mayor Ford.

The Toronto press, and especially the Toronto Star, are agog at his antics. In fact, they are so agog at the stain that Ford has besmirched their world class city with that they have fully endorsed the short-circuiting of the democratic process just to get this world-class buffoon out of the picture.

After all, Toronto's reputation as a "world-class" city hangs in the balance.

What nonsense!

The democratic process has tossed up the occasional world-class screw-up from time to time long before Rob Ford hit the front page.

Ford has a ways to go before he matches the boorish buffoonery of Silvio Berlusconi.

Have Berlusconi's foibles prevented tourists from visiting Italy? Have Berlusconi's antics caused head offices to flee from Italy to Luxembourg and Lichtenstein?

Of course not!

Italy remains a serious country and a serious tourist destination in spite of Berlusconi. That's because Italy is a world-class destination that is bigger than the personal peccadilloes of whoever sits in the big chair.

Same goes for Toronto.