The first time York University professor, gadfly and litigant David Noble attempted to expose what he considered to be nefarious dealings at his home campus, he went with an international-conspiracy angle, hand-distributing a so-called information sheet titled The Tail that Wags the Dog (Suggestions for Further Research).
In it, Prof. Noble alleged that the York University Foundation, the university's blue-ribbon fundraising body, "is biased by the presence and influence of staunch pro-Israel lobbyists, activists, and fundraising agencies."
He included a list of foundation members with links to Jewish community groups and fundraising organizations whom, he alleged in a sidelong defamation, had exerted sinister influence over campus life.
That didn't go over too well -- it resulted in the expected censure and controversy -- so Prof. Noble began to promote the Argos angle introduced as Suggestion No. 5 in his information sheet, centring on York foundation member and Toronto Argonauts co-owner Howard Sokolowski, "co-chair 2003 campaign [United Jewish Appeal] with wife Linda Frum (sister of David Frum)," according to Prof. Noble.
That travelled further.
This column focused on the fact that the Argos stood to receive a charitable tax deduction -- from the very York foundation Mr. Sokolowksi helps to direct -- in return for the team's $15-million contribution to a new university stadium that would double as its home field.
But compared to direct federal-provincial contributions equal to half the stadium's estimated $70-million cost -- with $27-million from Ottawa -- the charity side deal was mere garnish.
Besides, university officials protested, that's the way all postsecondary institutions in Ontario raise money -- which appears, however unfortunately, to be true.
So the next thing you know, The Toronto Star let go with a giant "investigation."
It strangely alleged that Mr. Sokolowski, who is also president of Tribute Communities, received a sweetheart deal from his York buddies when he bought a chunk of the campus three years ago for residential development.
Given that the university formally offered the parcel to three leading developers before selling it to Tribute -- a fact introduced in paragraph 57 of the Star special about the "not publicly tendered" land -- the outside expert that York enlists to examine the deal will have difficulty condemning it with the same gusto.
All the same -- what a mess.
There's a new angle every week, but all depend on one common base: the magic name Sorbara, as in Greg, the provincial Finance Minister; his brother Joseph, a York Foundation director; and their family-owned land development business.
Throw in the fact that Greg Sorbara once partnered with Howard Sokolowksi in an earlier sports franchise, and you have a lovely, sticky, highly inflammatory ball of wax.
Call it the York cabal.
That's perfectly fair.
But it remains far more powerful in theory than in practice.
In the old days, similar combinations rarely raised eyebrows; indeed, they were considered necessary to accomplish anything worthwhile.
Today, we face the prospect of scandals pre-emptively engulfing such powerful groupings even before they accomplish anything.
In that light, one hopes that there is more to York's current project than a nice new subdivision and a sports stadium.
And there is, of course: The project is to obtain a billion-dollar subway stop at the corner of Finch and Keele.
The problem, now compounded by the ongoing scandalettes, is how to get Greg Sorbara to pay for it without toppling the government.
The Finance Minister hasn't helped the cause by dithering on the issue -- extolling the subway extension while conspicuously declining to finance it -- but now there's just as much pressure on York to prove that it is worthy of the largesse its seeks.