Doug Holyday basically says firefighting is safe and easy; meanwhile, Nick Kouvalis is up to his old tricks

Doug Holyday basically says firefighting is safe and easy; meanwhile, Nick Kouvalis is up to his old tricks

We already knew that the man behind Rob Ford’s gravy train campaign is now working for the opposite side by running a PR campaign against proposed cuts to Toronto Fire Services (the website is called NotGravy.ca—no, really). Nick Kouvalis, Ford’s former campaign manager and chief of staff, is mobilizing citizens opposed to the cuts to tell local councillors how they feel—which might be a noble service if it didn’t also prove the man is willing to work for anyone with a fat cheque in hand. Still, Kouvalis’s ability to skirt the rules that currently prevent him from lobbying the city is impressive. What’s even more impressive, though, are the rhetorical acrobatics Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday is performing to justify cuts to fire services, given that the police ended up receiving a budget increase. According to Holyday, carrying a gun and protecting citizens from bad guys make the police a special case. “Their job does not carry the same degree of hazard as a police officer,” Holyday told the Sun. Because there’s nothing safer than running into a burning building. Read the entire story [Toronto Sun] »