Years ago at a dinner three of us were chatting at the head table reception. There was the Ontario party leader, a prominent member of the federal cabinet and this writer. The three of us were discussing nothing important and we studiously ignored the photographers and TV camera people recording our innocuous three-part tête-a-tête. It would have been a pleasant chat except for the constant pokes in the back from party wannabes who wanted to get in the shot.
It is why at Rob Ford’s funeral the other day you saw this mixture of politicos among the losers from Ford Nation. At least the politicos were able to reserve seats in St. James Cathedral. The losers were outside in the circus tents. (Their time was later at the Ford-funded wake.)
But there was the Premier, former premiers, the Ontario Cabinet, MPs and MPPs, the Mayor and councillors who were allowed inside with the family.
And the widow Ford had never looked so good. She looked like Cinderella, freed from life as a scullery maid. Even the kids did their bit for the family. The only sour note was brother Doug Ford weeping as he tried on Rob Ford’s political mantle.
The best photo shots of the event were the hundreds of Ford Nation people and others who followed the hearse on the way to the Anglican cathedral.
Frankly this commentator was not invited. Anyway, we refuse to go to the funeral of someone we disliked in life. We have known too many Rob Fords in politics and there will obviously be more in the future. You could swear that American presidential hopeful Donald Trump is a graduate of the Rob Ford Finishing School.
Funerals are for the living as we understand it. Just who the funeral was for on Wednesday in Toronto is an open question. It made a substantial contribution to the news media needs. It brought politicos out where they could be seen and heard weeping crocodile tears for Rob Ford. It brought out Ford Nation for a last hurrah—the food and circuses circuit will hardly be the same under his older brother.
But however fleeting, the politicos had their moment in the cameras’ eyes. The publicity at this level of event is free. And not since William Shakespeare wrote of Marc Antony’s eulogy, nobody expects anything meaningful or important to be said at a funeral.
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Copyright 2016 © Peter Lowry
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