This item has more to do with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) than the Toronto municipal election, so we are running it before our ban on municipal elections items is lifted. Known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, ALS is a terrible progressive neurological disorder that destroys the body’s ability to control the voluntary muscles. And until there is some relief found for people with this disease, it remains one of the strongest arguments in favour of assisted suicide.
The ALS Association in the U.S. lucked into a summer fund-raising idea this year that is racing around North America. It is the Ice Bucket Challenge and it started with some Boston area baseball coaches. The idea is that you either have a bucket of ice water dumped over your head or you donate $100 to the ALS Association. Most people accept the ice water to show they are cool and donate the money as well. In the first two weeks of the craze on social media, the ALS Association received more than $4 million.
There being no reason why the ALS Society of Canada should not also cash in on a good idea, the promotion is getting good play in Canada. In Toronto, for example, television personalities, hopeful politicians and sports figures are getting the challenge. To-date, we understand the only major mayoralty hopefuls to accept the challenge have been Olivia Chow and Karen Stintz. Both endured a bucket of water that did nothing for their hair styling. There seems to be no answer from Rob Ford or John Tory.
Since they can both easily afford a donation to the ALS Society, we will assume they made it. Neither would want to endure a bucket of ice water over their heads. It would just be for different reasons.
It would certainly not be a problem for Rob Ford. The man desperately needs a dose of reality. The only problem is that you have not likely ever seen that man in anything other than a suit and tie and a shirt that does not fit. You have to figure that those suits are wool and worth a lot more than $100. He would not want to have a picture of himself on social media looking wet in a ruined suit.
John Tory has a different problem. We have always assumed that this gentleman wears a hairpiece. You really would not want to see what can happen when a flood of water and ice cubes hits a hairpiece. We can well appreciate his decision to pay the price of refusing the challenge.
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Copyright 2014 © Peter Lowry
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