The growing legend of Norm Kelly's Twitter account
CBC News | Posted: December 24, 2014 10:00 AM | Last Updated: December 24, 2014
Councillor's Twitter feed a mix of quotes, tips about the city, old photos -- you name it
If you're one of the thousands of people who have been following Coun. Norm Kelly on Twitter, you've been learning a lot.
Like the fact that he thinks there should be more explicit warning given when someone hands you a cookie with raisins in it.
- On mobile? Click here to see the tweet posted above.
Or the fact he used to make some serious cash shovelling driveways when he was a boy.
- On mobile? Click here to see the tweet posted above.
His account is a potpourri of personal observations, tips about the city, inspirational quotes, photos from the past, random factoids and other offerings.
Kelly also keeps his followers abreast of what's happening with the Raptors and on some occasions, he has drawn parallels between himself and the team's global ambassador, Drake.
- On mobile? Click here to see a Drake-versus-Kelly tweet from the @norm account
Sometimes he'll update the public on things he has stashed in his office, or when he gets new office supplies.
- On mobile? Click here to see the tweet above?
The account and its somewhat whimsical nature have been noticed by many and provoked questions about what it's all about.
Morgan Baskin, a Toronto teenager who ran for mayor this fall, recently raised the question on Twitter of who "runs" the account that has pumped out thousands of tweets this year.
It's also caught the attention of Toronto Life, as well as National Post reporter Tristin Hopper who recently described it as "a daily jolt of dad jokes amid the chaos of Toronto." (The latter met with the apparent approval of Kelly, who tweeted back that he had "good taste.")
Then there was the matter of Kelly scoring a new Twitter handle. Kelly used to be known as @dmayorkelly but, earlier this month, a video was posted to his account to celebrate his capture of the @norm handle on the social-media messaging service.
When the Toronto Sun asked him how he got the new handle, Kelly said: "If I told you, I'd have to kill you."
Outside of the social-media universe, it was a busy year for Kelly.
He started the year serving as the deputy mayor under former mayor Rob Ford.
When Ford went to rehab in the spring, that left Kelly picking up the slack.
In October, Kelly was re-elected as the councillor in Ward 40. Ford also re-joined council, as the councillor in Ward 2. John Tory became the city's new mayor.
Since Tory was elected, he picked a new executive and a new deputy mayor. But Kelly is not serving in his former role any longer, nor is he part of the executive committee.