Canadian literary icon Margaret Atwood has widened the library debate, accusing Mayor Rob Ford of waging a war on creative Torontonians that risks the city losing festivals and even conventions.

In an interview with the Star on Tuesday, Atwood said Ford’s refusal to take library cuts off the table — after his councillor brother Doug said he wants to close branches — and apparent eagerness to eliminate arts grants and festival funding are part of a pattern with financial risks for the city.

MORE: Transcript of Atwood’s interview with the Star

“Expressing contempt for creative people turns people away from Toronto as a venue, and that’s a pretty serious consideration. If you’re thinking of having a convention, you’re thinking of having a concert, you’re thinking of going to a festival, and that’s the attitude? Why wouldn’t you spend your dollars somewhere else,” Atwood said.

“You start with tossing off latte drinkers, gay Pride and bicycle riders and me, what’s the message? The message is: ‘We don’t want you people here.’ I’m sure Hamilton or Burlington or Oshawa would be very happy if some of those festivals and conventions moved there. Why shouldn’t I spend my creative dollar in New York if I’m not welcome in Toronto?

“My question to the council would be: ‘Are people like me welcome in this city?’”

After consultant KPMG suggested Toronto could save money by shrinking the “footprint” of the 99-branch library system, among hundreds of other suggestions in the city’s core services review, Atwood retweeted a request for people to sign an online petition to protect the libraries.

Her legion of Twitter followers crashed the petition’s server, and a war of words erupted between the author and Councillor Doug Ford. In poking fun at “Twin Fordmayor(s)”, Atwood has become an icon of opposition to the mayor’s push to end “non-core” spending.

“The hero of all this is not me and the issue is not me. I can’t emphasize that enough,” Atwood said. “The hero is the people of Toronto and the issue is libraries . . . If people had not felt very strongly about their libraries and also about the fact that you do not have to be elected to express an opinion – not in a democracy – then nothing would have happened.”

Atwood was busy writing, “in the woods, without electricity,” last week when the spat generated headlines across Canada, particularly Doug Ford’s statement: “I don’t even know her. If she walked by me, I wouldn’t have a clue who she is,” and his retraction the next day.

She caught up on events Sunday, marvelling at the 22-hour executive committee meeting days earlier where more than 160 deputants opposed suggested cuts. Many invoked the author’s name; some spectators even donned Atwood masks.

The author, whose previous activism has focused primarily on human rights issues, said she has faith in Torontonians to let their councillors know they oppose library cuts, and that politicians risk their political futures by agreeing with Doug Ford.

The issue has taken on a life of its own online, including a fan who used photo manipulation software to parody Atwood book covers for the Fords, turning Surfacing into “Touchdown.”

But one YouTube user, Canadaguy2210, posted a video of a burning copy of Surfacing, with a message accusing her of “a pathetic left wing attempt to garner some limelight and maybe sell a few books.”

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“I encourage people everywhere to clean out your Atwood collection. Burn them, throw them out — heck, maybe the library wants them,” Canadaguy wrote.

Mayor Rob Ford’s office did not respond to the Star’s request for comment.

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