Governments in Canada are founded on the principle that those holding elected positions will act honourably. Hence the frequently heard epithet “honourable member.”

So when someone acts dishonourably, there are no remedies at hand, as we’ve seen with Mayor Rob Ford. The institution finds itself in a quandary, and the toxicity is hard to contain. Motions short of removing the person acting dishonourably are ineffective at stemming the poison.

In Toronto, the situation is made worse by Rob Ford’s apparent desire to work the celebrity routine, the same one used for media dominance by Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. As one could see by the thousands who lined up to purchase a bobblehead likeness of the mayor, many people are  affected by Rob Ford’s celebrity status. 

The cost to the city of what has happened is immense. Millions of dollars are spent each year to enhance the city’s reputation for tourism and for investment. The message that Toronto’s leadership is raffish and dysfunctional has countered spending that money. Some might argue that city council is still able to do its regular business, but that misses the point: Rob Ford’s continued presence in the mayor’s office says the city is led by someone unpredictable and unpleasant, someone who consorts with criminals. 

The political message of Rob Ford’s behaviour is one that he has often hinted at: public bodies should not be admired, and we’re all better off when the public sector is as small as possible. That’s why we should cut government programs rather than trying to make them run well; it’s why we should contract out as many public functions as possible. By continuing to besmirch the mayor’s position, Ford is exemplifying the political position he and his political friends, such as Stephen Harper and Tim Hudak, express in daily life.

There’s no question that Rob Ford’s behaviour, and the support of his brother Doug Ford, is a strong part of the dysfunction at City Hall. But suppose one turned it around, away from the idea that Rob Ford was the cause of the dysfunction. Maybe, instead, he is the result. It’s not as though no one suspected Rob Ford would be this kind of mayor. 

Before he was elected, it was known he’d been arrested on drug possession charges and for drunk driving, that he’d been inebriated and abusive at the Air Canada Centre and that he was prone to racist and homophobic remarks. Those who voted for him wanted him as mayor anyway. 

We had another mayor with similar attributes, although much smaller in scope: Mel Lastman, with his scandalous meeting with the Hells Angels, his offensive remarks about being boiled alive if he went to Africa, his second, hidden family. 

Similar to Ford, Lastman found his support largely in the three big suburbs within the new Toronto: Etobicoke, North York and Scarborough. Both men have been re-elected numerous times.

The dysfunction that resulted in both Rob Ford and Mel Lastman has been caused by the mega-city, the forced joining of the six municipalities and Metro.  

The former city of Toronto had its own distinct political culture system — one admired around the world — but it was quickly drowned by an entirely different political culture that had supported politicians such as Mel Lastman for years. 

The former city lost its voice and its own government, which of course had been Premier Mike Harris’ intention for his own political reasons. Perhaps a reasonable analysis of Mayor Rob Ford is that he’s the result of the dysfunction, and he gives it full expression.

If that’s a fair description of the situation, then the remedy lies in a new municipal structure that returns a voice and independent government to the former city. Maybe that’s what this issue is really about, even if it is not one that the councillors or the premier are willing to confront.  

If this expresses the real problem for Toronto, then trying to just deal with Rob Ford as a rogue isn’t good enough: the problem will reappear in the future, and the decline in the city’s health that Mayor Rob Ford’s presence indicates will accelerate. It’s not a pretty picture. 

Post City Magazines’ columnist John Sewell is a former mayor of Toronto and the author of a number of urban planning books.