Toronto mayor’s brother delivers defense
TORONTO, Canada (AP) — Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s brother said yesterday that Ford has told him that reports of a purported video that appears to show the mayor smoking crack cocaine are untrue and that the media is trying to destroy his brother.
The story has caused an uproar in Canada, and the mayor and Toronto have become the butt of jokes on late night TV in the US Ford has to yet to make substantive comments or take questions.
City Councilor Doug Ford took to a microphone at City Hall to deliver a long, rambling attack on the media in defense of brother.
“Rob is telling me these stories are untrue, that these allegations are ridiculous and I believe him,” Ford said.
A politician has never been targeted in Canada as much as Rob Ford, who was right to ignore questions from the media, Doug Ford said.
“If the mayor stopped and held a press conference every time the media made up a story about him, we would never have accomplished what we have,” said Ford, who also refused to answer questions from reporters.
Another close ally of the mayor said Ford has followed legal advice in remaining mostly silent. Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday said he’s been told by Ford and his aides that lawyers have advised the mayor that saying less is better. Holyday said he doesn’t know why that advice has been given.
Holyday and others were urging Ford to address the video as the mayor of Canada’s largest city continued to duck questions. He avoided a throng of reporters on Tuesday in his first public appearances following a long holiday weekend in Canada.
The mayor has repeatedly ignored reporters, but got into an exchange with a local television reporter at a Tim Hortons doughnut shop inside a convenience store on Wednesday morning.
“Are you going to escort me all the way to city hall too,” Rob Ford mockingly asked a reporter for CTV television. “Did you bring your sleeping bag? Did you bring your pillow?
“Make sure you pick up your pillow and your sleeping bag outside tonight, partner. Do you want me to make your bed for you tonight? Make sure you camp out tonight.”
The alleged crack smoking video has not been released publicly and there is no way to verify whether it is authentic. Reports on the gossip website Gawker and in the Toronto Star claimed it was taken by men who claimed they had sold the drug to Ford. The Associated Press hasn’t seen the video.
The Star reported that two journalists watched a video that appears to show Ford, sitting in a chair, inhaling from what appears to be a glass crack pipe. The Star said it did not obtain the video or pay to watch it. Gawker and the Star said the video was shown to them by a drug dealer who had been trying to sell it for a six-figure sum.
The Star also reported that Ford allegedly made an anti-gay slur against the leader of the federal Liberal Party of Canada, Justin Trudeau, and a racist remark about high school football students he coaches.
The Toronto Catholic District School board said in a statement yesterday that Ford has been fired as coach of the Don Bosco Eagles Football program after the board decided to “pursue a different direction.”
“Mr. Ford has helped our students rise to the challenge and realize their potential as both football players and young men,” Bruce Rodrigues, the Director of Education, said. “This decision was based on what is best for our students, our school and the Don Bosco community.”