Olivia Chow's vacuous identity politics strategy will backfire

Mitch Wolfe in the Huff Po:

...Chow has made a desperate appeal to Hong Kong residents with Canadian passports.

This identity politics maneuver has been met with serious criticism from many fronts.

As a business consultant, I have advised many Hong Kong residents over the years and assisted them in investing in Canada, acquiring Canadian companies and real estate and securing Canadian citizenships for themselves and their families. I have been in contact with some of these clients and former clients over the past few days and I have inquired if any one of these Hong Kong residents were "embarrassed or shared a sense of shame" in having a crack-smoking Toronto mayor.

Not one of these Hong Kong businessmen shared Chow's alleged "embarrassment and shame." They all thought Chow's approach to them was ignorant, ridiculous and contemptible.

These men are sophisticated investors, businessmen and entrepreneurs -- very similar to the Toronto businessmen and bankers I described in a previous article, who support Ford because he is pro business, pro investment, pro development and anti-high taxes.

As long as Toronto remains democratic, a safe haven for investment based upon the rule of law, these Hong Kong residents are supportive of the Ford administration.

As hard-nosed businessmen, they do not give two figs about Ford's personal behaviour and whether Ford is or is not an embarrassment to the image of Toronto.

They resent Chow's blatant approach to their ethnic origins and her attempt to exploit their non-existent feelings of shame for her own political purposes...