fascinated by this man, mario cortellucci, and his outsized influence on ontario and GTA politics. cortellucci, who lives in vaughan and ran as a far-right candidate for the italian senate back in 2018 - is a major ford donor...

his name might sound familiar because the new cortellucci vaughan hospital at mackenzie health, the one doug ford has been touting lately as a covid-centric facility, is named after him and his family https://t.co/bNaCYclNpB
but his name also pops up in a LOT of other ford projects. for instance - he controls the long term lease on big parts of toronto's portlands... where doug ford once proposed building an nfl stadium and monorail... https://t.co/weOMJ51bVF
cortellucci, who is a developer, also owns a large chunk of the greenbelt. doug ford's desire to develop the greenbelt has been well-documented
https://t.co/d2phLJHrrO
and late last year he rolled back the mandate of conservation authorities there, prompting the resignations of several members of the greenbelt advisory group
https://t.co/udWa1LhIm7
there he is again! https://t.co/dcuWfsFElp
back to mario cortellucci's italian senate run -- he ran under berlusconi's coalition that promoted anti-immigration and anti-lgbtq policies, as well as the closure of mosques. https://t.co/JFPwUDQXqJ
vaughan mayor maurizio bevilacqua faced an integrity complaint after endorsing cortellucci's run.
https://t.co/248XQmifev
while there's nothing illegal about cortellucci's senate run, or his donations - i think this stuff is important to know. ford and his donors rely on no one paying attention to these things so they can keep doing what they're doing.
but citizens should be aware of who is behind the decisions that affect them, to whom our politicians are beholden , and how having deep pockets means you can sway democracy in your favour - while hiding behind 'philanthropy'
this is especially relevant now, as doug ford ignores pleas for paid sick days, which he cut at the beginning of his term. @goldsbie looked into that... https://t.co/9IpiDOFvYI
and, while he protects the private long-term care home industry from the consequences of their actions during covid-19... for some reason.
i believe it is irresponsible to report on the actions of our leaders without giving context. stories don't happen in a vacuum. @fordnation isn't just sitting in a room making "the best decision" -- he has friends and family -- and favours to return.
and so far we know this is a guy who surrounds himself by far-righters, alt-righters and anti-vaxxers. food for thought. i'm very tired now.
and before you say "but politicians accept donations all the time" - don't forget that the fords have tried to keep this a SECRET since back in the robbie days!
and if you'd like to start on @Sflecce's ties to vaughan developers... here you go https://t.co/cJpdJ7JdA6

More from World

Watch the entire discussion if you have the time to do so. But if not, please make sure to watch Edhem Eldem summarizing ~150 years of democracy in Turkey in 6 minutes (starting on 57'). And if you can't watch it, fear not; I've transcribed it for you (as public service). Thread:


"Let me start by saying that I am a historian, I see dead people. But more seriously, I am constantly torn between the temptation to see patterns developing over time, and the fear of hasty generalizations and anachronistic comparisons. 1/n

"Nevertheless, the present situation forces me to explore the possible historical dimensions of the problem we're facing today. 2/n

"(...)I intend to go further back in time and widen the angle in order to focus on the confusion I  believe exists between the notions of 'state', 'government', and 'public institutions' in Turkey. 3/n

"In the summer of 1876, that's a historical quote, as Midhat Pasa was trying to draft a constitution, Edhem Pasa wrote to Saffet Pasa, and I quote in Turkish, 'Bize Konstitusyon degil enstitusyon lazim' ('It is not a constitution we need but institutions'). 4/n

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