Petty, vengeful and crass, bully boy Ford's toddler tantrum a dangerous sign of things to come

Early this morning -- in what was admittedly something of an unexpected judgement -- Justice Edward Belobaba ruled that Doug Ford's petty and vindictive Better Local Government Act was unconstitutional. Belobaba was fiercely critical of the act overall, though his decision primarily rested on it being an infringement of freedom of expression rights as opposed to an interference in democratic voting rights.

This is unfortunate as it seems likely to allow Doug Ford to invoke the notwithstanding clause of the constitution which only applies to some types of court rulings. Ford has now signaled his intention to do so and also implied that he would be willing to in the future on the specious and grotesque grounds that somehow having won an election means he should be able to do whatever he wants henceforth with no judicial oversight.

While many have been left in something of a state of shock, it was totally predictable.

Ford's Better Local Government Act was only ever about one thing: the fact that he lost the mayoral election to John Tory in 2014 and that the city council kneecapped the powers of his brother Rob after the crack scandals and erratic behaviour.

He never accepted that he lost that election and that his brother was not able to rule by fiat as mayor.

Even after winning the provincial election almost by default he still hasn't.

It also explains his singular obsession with the city that rejected him. It is the wounded ego of a sad, vengeful man-child who thought he had seized the bully pulpit until some dastardly judge took his toys away.

I already touched on the fact that Ford's entire theory of governance will be chaos, but this is chaos with a personal touch.

Ford has a deep, entrenched, abiding loathing of Toronto. He neither understands it -- beyond the narrow framework of his tiny little part of north Etobicoke -- nor does he like it. It is complex and dynamic, difficult and contradictory in ways that his simplistic vision of the world cannot allow.

Should he actually corral his caucus and cabinet -- some of whom must be having doubts as to the "wisdom" of this imbecilic response -- and successfully use this legal sledgehammer to crush what is a minor setback on a minor provincial issue, we can all rest assured this will not be the last time.

Doug Ford is sending a clear message that he intends to simply do whatever he wants, like the toddler screaming on the mall floor for candy. The crucial difference being that this overgrown toddler appears ready to kick all of our constitutional rights and protections to the curb to satisfy his own narrow schoolyard desires for vengeance.

See also: Chaos Theory: For Doug Ford disruption will be the plan