Watch the video above: OPP take oversight of investigation into Mayor Rob Ford. Jackson Proskow reports.
TORONTO – At the request of Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair, the Ontario Provincial Police has assumed oversight in Project Brazen 2 – the police investigation into Mayor Rob Ford and Alexander ‘Sandro’ Lisi.
The OPP took over the investigation Wednesday, Blair said in a letter to OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis, to avoid “distractions.”
“I am taking this step to avoid the distractions that have assumed such recent prominence. The only public interest here is the continued investigation, without fear or favour, into evidence of possible criminality,” Blair said in a statement.
The “distractions” Blair refers to likely include vocal criticism of the chief from Rob Ford and his brother Doug Ford, and their suggestion – which he has repudiated – that the investigation is politically motivated.
It doesn’t actually change much in terms of how the investigation is conducted: It means Blair doesn’t get updates on its progress and the decision on whether to lay charges comes from the OPP.
Arriving at city hall Wednesday just minutes before 3 p.m., the mayor again accused the police chief of playing politics.
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When asked if he was worried about being charged, the mayor, who last week called on Blair to “arrest me,” replied: “Charged for what? An empty vodka bottle or urinating in the park? I’m not quite sure.”
He also called the investigation a “waste of taxpayer money.”
Rob Ford on OPP takeover of investigation: “The damage has already been done”
Project Brazen 2 arose from a year-long investigation, dubbed Project Traveller, that sought to oust the Dixon City Bloods street gang from north Etobicoke.
Read more: Complete coverage of the Rob Ford story
Police have been investigating the mayor and Lisi since last May, documenting multiple meetings and exchanges of packages. Wiretaps connected with Project Traveller uncovered allegations of drug use and alleged attempts at extorting the mayor over a video believed to show him smoking crack.
The incidents in those documents have not been proven in court.
Blair said at an October press conference that police retrieved the infamous “crack video” from a hard drive seized during the June Project Traveller raids that saw dozens arrested. At the same time, Blair announced the arrest of Lisi, who is currently facing extortion charges for allegedly trying to retrieve the video.
Blair said he was “disappointed” by what he saw in the video.
WATCH: OPP Commissioner explains what handoff of Project Brazen 2 will mean
Since then Blair has been in the Ford brothers’ crosshairs, especially Doug, who has repeatedly called for Blair to step down, called his comments “political” and complained to the Office of the Independent Police Review Direction about the chief’s alleged fishing trip with Andy Pringle, a member of the police services board.
And the mayor, who has claimed he deserves an apology from Blair, derided the chief and the Brazen investigation in a video that caught the mayor ranting in Jamaican patois at the Etobicoke Steak Queen restaurant. Blair, who has largely ignored these broadsides, later called those remarks “disgusting.”
Doug Ford welcomed the news Wednesday, telling reporters he hopes the investigation becomes less “political.”
OPP Commissioner Lewis said Wednesday the mayor’s recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel and the further criticism he levied on Blair while on the show may add to some people’s suspicion.
“I can see why the chief is thinking, ‘Are members of the public are going to wonder if I’m doing the right thing?’” Lewis told reporters at Queen’s Park Wednesday. “I know the challenges he’s been under and no chief wants to hear that this is a personal issue between him and someone who’s being investigated, whether it’s the mayor or anyone else.”
Wednesday’s decision for the OPP to take over the investigation reveals “no judgement” of Blair’s actions or comments, Lewis said, adding that the provincial police frequently take over investigations where there could be allegations of a conflict of interest.
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