TORY TOOK PAGE FROM CLINTON PLAYBOOK

Claude McIntosh - Mac's Musings
TORY TOOK PAGE FROM CLINTON PLAYBOOK

Well, at least he didn’t wait until Valentine’s Day to book a seat in the public confessional reserved for such occasions.

In the meantime, there are some who applaud John Tory’s decision to disclose a romp in the hay with a much younger staffer and quickly surrender the keys to the Toronto mayor’s office Friday evening.

Tory ripped a page from the William Jefferson Clinton playbook and soft-pedalled it as an “inappropriate relationship.” That is what folks in high places – or television evangelists – who get nabbed with their pants down like to call it. Right up there with the “devil made me do it.”

This wasn’t one of those Christmas office party one-night stands. Tory was cheating on his wife of 40 years for a months. If you read between the lines of his mea culpa, he seems to blame the pandemic and the need to spend so much time away from his wife.

As for giving Tory a get-out-of-jail card for stepping up to the plate and spilling the beans, bull feathers.

Tory rushed to the microphone one hour after he learned the Toronto Star was printing the story. If the newspaper had not uncover the extramarital affair, Tory still would be sitting in the mayor’s office keeping his fingers crossed nobody, especially his wife of 40 years, would find out.

Yes, he said he was sorry. An argument can be made that what he is really sorry for is that he got caught.

The oddity is that the Toronto media had branded the mayor No Story Tory for his cautious middle-of-the-road style and ability to stick handle around controversy; and then out of no where he became the biggest Toronto story of the young year. New York papers carried the story on their front page. He is now called Sorry Tory.

Meanwhile, there is no need to hold a tag-day for the unemployed Tory. He hails from a wealthy family and never needed the mayor’s salary to put food on the table.

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In 1937 Cornwall, the highest paid municipal employee wasn’t the person who ran city hall, or the police chief or the fire chief.

The city employee who made the most money was the tax collector (as they were called back in the day). Ovila Larin earned the handsome annual salary of $2,200, which was $200 a year more than clerk-treasurer W. A. Hamilton.

Over at the police station, Chief Fred Seymour commanded an annual salary of $2,000, while his six constables each earned $1,300 a year. The perk for Seymour was that he got to take the force’s lone vehicle home at night and on weekends, while the coppers walked the beat.

ALSO THIS MONTH IN 1937 – Frank Love, president (or should that read chairman) of the Cornwall chapter of the Communist Party of Canada, spent 15 minutes on an Ottawa radio station railing against the evils of capitalism and the lack of social justice in Cornwall. He claimed workers would be happpier and live better under a communist system. … Cornwall’s workforce numbered 4,779 (most of it in industry). There were 3,106 Bell Telephone customer and the local light and power companies had 5,018 customers. … The stylish Strathcona Apartment Building at 214 Second St. W. was ready for occupancy. It was constructed by Entwistle Construction of Cornwall. The building was owned by W. H. Frost of Ottawa. John W. Eamer was building superintendent.

Construction of St. Francis de Sales Church was completed and the first mass was held. A new church in east Cornwall, St. Felix de Valois was nearing completion. … Cornwall Police Commission approved the purchase of a new police vehicle, a Dodge sedan. With the $500 trade allowance, the cost was $499. It was the department’s sole vehicle. Meanwhile, the board decided to have the radio communications system removed to save money. Instead, the two constables on duty at night had the use of alarm boxes stationed throughout the city. … With the closing of the town dump on St. Andrews Road (Pitt Street), the city contracted Bruce McCourt of Track Road for a dump site on his farm property. … Ontario Provincial Police ruled out foul play in the death of Post Road man whose body was discovered in the well on his property. It came just three days before he was to be a key witness in a civil lawsuit. … By a long shot, fiction books were the best read by Cornwall Public Library users. In the previous year, 40,457 fiction book were borrowed while 4,250 non-fiction books were borrowed. … An employee of the Provincial Paper Mill in Mille Roches was electrocuted when he accidentally touched a 550 volt terminal. … The Crown’s office said it would not prosecuted a man suspected in the armed robbery of Morrisburg cab driver Orren Duprau a year earlier. The suspected was handed a 12-year sentence in Hamilton court for the armed robbery of an Ancaster cab driver. The Crown felt that the best it could get would be a concurrent sentence.

SEEN AND HEARD Central Canada Hockey League academic player of the month (January) Carter Pilon has a strong tie to Cornwall. The Carleton Place Canadians rookie defenceman’s father, Denis, is from the city. The younger Pilon is the grandson of city residents Glen and Leona Pilon. The 17-year-old defenceman, a student at All Saints High School in Kanata, logs a 95% average on a full academic load. … Thoughts and prayers for retired Cornwall Transit manager and all-round good guy Len Tapp. … With wild government spending one of the causes of inflation woes, we now have something called Justinflation. … One of life’s mysteries: How can federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh criticize the Trudeau government when his party is keeping it in power.

TRIVIA Aunt Bee was the housekeeper in this television show: 1) The Andy Griffith Show, 2) Dennis the Menace, 3) Lassie, 4) Leave it to Beaver, 5) Father Knows Best.

TRIVIA ANSWER Historic King George Hotel was destroyed in a spectacular fire on Feb. 14, 1997. The lot sat empty until last year when construction of an apartment building was started. Arson was suspected.

QUOTED – “Winners take responsibility, losers blame others.” – Brit Hume

NEW WORD OF THE DAY Cashtration(n) – The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

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