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Toronto Mayor Rob Ford (CP)

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford

Ah, Toronto... such a sophisticated city. Take its mayor... please!

Ford was in Chicago's Millennium Park earlier this week during a trade mission. The crowd of reporters around him attracted a few gawkers, so Ford handed out his business card and struck up some conversations -- such as this one:

MAYOR: Hi, how are you? I'm the mayor of Toronto. Nice to meet you. You ever been to Toronto?

YOUNG WOMAN: I've been to Canada.

MAYOR: Yeah, whereabouts in Canada?

YOUNG WOMAN: I don't know, that part across from Detroit and the river.

MAYOR: Oh Manitoba! You were in Manitoba. Winnipeg?

(The young woman shrugs. A reporter yells out "Windsor.")

This conversation is not a joke. The joke is that Rob Ford really is mayor of Canada's largest city. How could this have happened? Well, consider this: The city has a joke of a baseball team and a joke of a hockey team and they get lots of support. It only stands to reason that its citizens would support a joke of a mayor, too.

Perhaps to avoid embarrassment, Toronto should require all future mayoral candidates to successfully get past the first round of Are You as Smart as a Fifth-grader.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 22, 2012 J2