Pro-Rob Ford Billboard, Interesting For So Much More Than The Hilarious Typo!
Sometime during the afternoon of Friday, November 8th, 2013 the following billboard inexplicably appeared to perplexed motorists in Toronto’s west end, near the Gardener & Islington.
On Twitter some users chose to poke fun at Ford Nation’s lack of spell checking, while others challenged what they “alleged” was not an authentic bible verse (that’s you @danspeerin). Other commentators poked fun at Mayor Ford, parroting his own words back at him saying “I can’t comment on a sign I haven’t seen or that doesn't exist.”
As Friday night progressed the story began to get really interesting, with possible motive beginning to unfold in a troubling narrative of a mutually beneficial relationship and a possible cover-up of the full extent of Rob Ford's relationship with the billboard owners.
Certainly the narrative began to sound more sinister than the unauthorized use of the City of Toronto logo which @judemacdonald had noted early in the evening. Not content to leave it at that, the hunt for facts continued as @judemacdonald, asked “who produced the sign? Who paid for the sign? Which company rents out billboard space? How do we find out?”
My own thought's were what the hell, is this for real, just where EXACTLY is this billboard, I have to see it for myself.
As Friday night progressed the story began to get really interesting, with possible motive beginning to unfold in a troubling narrative of a mutually beneficial relationship and a possible cover-up of the full extent of Rob Ford's relationship with the billboard owners.
Certainly the narrative began to sound more sinister than the unauthorized use of the City of Toronto logo which @judemacdonald had noted early in the evening. Not content to leave it at that, the hunt for facts continued as @judemacdonald, asked “who produced the sign? Who paid for the sign? Which company rents out billboard space? How do we find out?”
With those questions the race was on to find the sign, identify the location, and obtain confirmation photos. Most sightings were reported by commuters on the Gardiner and were only able to point to the general location of the Gardiner near Islington Avenue.
With those questions the race was on to find the sign, identify the location, and obtain confirmation photos. Most sightings were reported by commuters on the Gardiner and were only able to point to the general location of the Gardiner near Islington Avenue.
By 5:45 PM twitter user @evdelen had sent online searchers, including myself in the wrong direction towards 82 Queen Elizabeth Blvd as the location of the sign.
@TorontoComms had responded to the illegal logo use by 6:58 pm saying “we are aware of the billboard at Gardiner and Islington and are addressing the unauthorized use of the Toronto logo” but @TorontoComms refrained from commenting on other questions posed by the billboard.
By 7:00 pm Newstalk1010 Reporter Siobhan Morris @siomo set off in search of the already notorious pro-Ford billboard at first wondering if it was all a hoax. Turns out she was parked in front of the wrong sign. Thanks Ev. By 7:35 pm @siomo ventured just west of her location and was able to find and confirm the billboard’s existence.
At 7:37 pm @evdelen redeemed himself by informing me of the correct address, 16 Queen Elizabeth Blvd. in Etobicoke’s Ward 5. I immediately confirmed the address of the sign using Google Streetview, before returning to the City of Toronto search portal to access Toronto official records.
The focus of my search were documents related to the property’s third party sign permit applications. Because of the billboard’s proximity to the Gardiner Expressway it is subject not only to municipal signage bylaws but also to the Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO) commercial sign policies and guidelines
At 7:41 @siomo posted the first night shot of the billboard overtop Child’s Play Banquet Centre providing additional means of confirming the address, and the property ownership.
The confirmation of the address led Twitter users on two divergent search paths.
My search led me to City of Toronto staff reports, Etobicoke York Community Council Minutes from which I determined that the following parties are among those who had represented or spoken on behalf of the property owners in regard to six different sign bylaw variance applications for the property located at 16 Queen Elizabeth Blvd.:
(Filed submissions as property co-owner, indirectly confirmed By Jackie Hong of Ryerson’s EyeOpener to be the Wally Whistance-Smith, Associate Professor of the Ted Rogers School of Business Management at Ryerson University)
(Supported applications at council, Owner of Child’s Play Event & Banquet Facility. The “related links” menu @ the Child’s Play website leads to the WJWSMedia.com the website for the business she co-owns with WJWS)
(Company cited in applications as the official owner of the property)
(Minutes show he supported 1st application before council, Ted Rogers School of Management alumnus informed EyerOpener’s Jackie Hong he provided character reference for WJWS but not for the company itself, Taras claimed not to know the company. Linkedin , twitter)
(Minutes show he supported 1st & 3rd application before council, Worked for DSW Insight, of 16 Queen Elizabeth Blvd. His Linked-in profile claims he spoke before community council on bylaw variances in a professional capacity. Ryerson Bachelor of Commerce Graduate. May have met WJWS through Ryerson)
By 10:30 pm I had obtained many City of Toronto documents related to the sign permits for 16 Queen Elizabeth Blvd and was hard at work reviewing data and composing a summary of Councillor’s Rob Ford’s very questionable voting record.
Councillor Rob Ford had voted in favour of 6 bylaw variance applications made by the billboard owners, including a 2009 vote in support of a Billboard 12x greater than permitted by City and MTO signage bylaws!
While I was very close to a possible explanation for the question “why,” by 9:36 pm Tracey Kent @TraceyKent had the who . Tracey’s Google search had uncovered the Child’s Play website, where she discovered WJWS Media hiding within the “related links” menu. The site has since been made inaccessible by the owners, but here’s a screenshot from the site.
Almost immediately @TraceyKent, @CarolineG82, @seanmhair discovered that the principals of WJWS Media had a relationship with Rob Ford dating back to his days as a lowly City Councillor. WJWS Media had erected a Rob Ford for Mayor campaign ad in 2010.
Just as quickly as Twitter users had uncovered the relationship, the company began purging this information from their website. Twitter user @CarolineG82 sounded the alarm and quickly fellow Twitter users located cached copies of the missing evidence. The following images are links to original tweet with unedited images.
It was a case of now you see it :
And now you don't:
Several users grabbed a screen capture of the deleted robfordformayor billboard from the WJWS Media promotional video on youtube. The owners have since taken this evidence of their Ford relationship down as well. Huh.
Just why did WJWS Media delete evidence of the previous Ford Tough - robfordformayor billboard?
Was it an attempt to obfuscate their relationship to Rob Ford. If so, it’s unfortunate for WJWS Media, because it was too late for that, trace evidence is present throughout the web and we've got it.
Using information the numbered ontario company name from the bylaw variance applications twitter user @eritskes uncovered lobbying of Rob Ford on the part of 2047276 Ontario Inc. I’ve since confirmed through a Lobbyist Registry search that both Wallace J Whistance-Smith and Mrs. Sylvia C Aiello had lobbied Rob Ford between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009. The subject matter registration no. are SM13465 & SM13466 respectively.
@1BrianMagee also took to google for his search and uncovered an InsideToronto news article which featured Wallace J Whistance-Smith and Sylvia Aiello’s effort to obtain a bylaw variance that would permit them to replace their trivision sign with a much more profitable digital LED sign. Brian’s tweet about his discovery is here.
Councillor Doug Holyday who was opposed to granting the variance provided further insight into the application to allow a digital LED sign, with this quote from the InsideToronto article "These signs are worth a small fortune each. We shouldn't rush in to make money for people."
Back on March 30, 2008 not long after the original billboard had been approved for the 16 Queen Elizabeth Blvd location the Humber College’s Convergence Magazine quoted Howard Moscoe as saying “The billboard lobby is a very powerful lobby, they do a lot of schmoozing of councilors."According to the magazine, Moscoe went on to say “the billboard industry makes millions and millions of dollars off their affairs and can afford to hire people to lobby for them. Of course, councillors, we’re supposed to be immune from all that.”
@TorontoComms had responded to the illegal logo use by 6:58 pm saying “we are aware of the billboard at Gardiner and Islington and are addressing the unauthorized use of the Toronto logo” but @TorontoComms refrained from commenting on other questions posed by the billboard.
By 10:30 pm I had obtained many City of Toronto documents related to the sign permits for 16 Queen Elizabeth Blvd and was hard at work reviewing data and composing a summary of Councillor’s Rob Ford’s very questionable voting record.
Almost immediately @TraceyKent, @CarolineG82, @seanmhair discovered that the principals of WJWS Media had a relationship with Rob Ford dating back to his days as a lowly City Councillor. WJWS Media had erected a Rob Ford for Mayor campaign ad in 2010.
Was it an attempt to obfuscate their relationship to Rob Ford. If so, it’s unfortunate for WJWS Media, because it was too late for that, trace evidence is present throughout the web and we've got it.
Using information the numbered ontario company name from the bylaw variance applications twitter user @eritskes uncovered lobbying of Rob Ford on the part of 2047276 Ontario Inc. I’ve since confirmed through a Lobbyist Registry search that both Wallace J Whistance-Smith and Mrs. Sylvia C Aiello had lobbied Rob Ford between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009. The subject matter registration no. are SM13465 & SM13466 respectively.
@1BrianMagee also took to google for his search and uncovered an InsideToronto news article which featured Wallace J Whistance-Smith and Sylvia Aiello’s effort to obtain a bylaw variance that would permit them to replace their trivision sign with a much more profitable digital LED sign. Brian’s tweet about his discovery is here.
Councillor Doug Holyday who was opposed to granting the variance provided further insight into the application to allow a digital LED sign, with this quote from the InsideToronto article "These signs are worth a small fortune each. We shouldn't rush in to make money for people."
Back on March 30, 2008 not long after the original billboard had been approved for the 16 Queen Elizabeth Blvd location the Humber College’s Convergence Magazine quoted Howard Moscoe as saying “The billboard lobby is a very powerful lobby, they do a lot of schmoozing of councilors."According to the magazine, Moscoe went on to say “the billboard industry makes millions and millions of dollars off their affairs and can afford to hire people to lobby for them. Of course, councillors, we’re supposed to be immune from all that.”
But are Councillors immune?
Ford’s was the sole voice on council to vote in support of a variance that would permit a sign 2400 square feet in area, fully 12x greater size than permitted is completely inexplicable. Even with his pro business stance, it’s very hard to explain Rob Ford’s unwavering support over the 2 ½ years and through six different signage bylaw variance applications.
Folks, that’s the same width and a full 10 feet taller than screens 2 & 3 at Oakville’s 5 Drive-in!
WJWS Media’s erecting the “Ford Tough” election sign raises the following questions; was this billboard paid for by the Ford Mayoral Campaign, was it claimed as a gift-in-kind donation, or was it an undeclared unpaid gift to the mayor? What about this latest pro-Rob Ford billboard?
Is it a form of payback for Rob Ford’s loyalty to their cause, or is there something left that Toronto residents don’t yet know? We’ll look into that question in a second article coming soon.
Ford’s Billboard Voting Summary
Rob Ford participated in six Etobicoke York Community Council debates and votes related to Sign Bylaw variance requests for the now infamous billboard located at 16 Queen Elizabeth Blvd.;
Ford voted for a variance permitting installation of an Illuminated Roof Sign display area of 18.58 square metres (200 sq ft).
Ford voted for a variance to increase sign height to 11.15 metres 3.15 > the MTO guideline for signs adjacent to the Gardiner Exp.
Ford voted for a variance to increase sign area from the current & maximum 200 sq. ft. to 2400 sq.ft., a 12 fold increase in area.
Ford voted for a variance to:
The following council votes occurred during the 2010 Mayoral Campaign
Ford voted for a variance to convert the existing trivision roof-top billboard to non-permitted “changeable message” electronic digital LED sign, which would have been 11.15 metres above the ground, 3.15 metres (40%) higher than the maximum permissible 8 metres.
Ford voted twice, once through an attempted amendment, and once through an original motion for a variance to convert the existing trivision roof-top billboard to non-permitted “changeable message” electronic digital LED sign, which would have been 11.15 metres above the ground, 3.15 metres (40%) higher than the maximum permissible 8 metres.
On March 9, 2010, Rob Ford made 2 attempts to help the billboard owner WJWS Media to obtain a variance for a digital LED billboard. His single minded focus to push this one issue is intriguing in light of the timing.
On March 24, 2010, The Rob Ford campaign registered the website robfordformayor.ca.
On March 25, Rob Ford registered as a mayoral candidate.
On March 25, Rob Ford registered as a mayoral candidate.
Not long after that the following robfordformayor.ca billboard appeared at the 16 Queen Elizabeth Blvd location.
Which raises the other question, were Council Rob Ford’s votes made with his own future benefit in mind?
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