Watch above: Rob Ford under fire for false claims about Sugar Beach. Jackson Proskow reports.
TORONTO – Mayor Rob Ford claimed in two recent interviews the city spent $900,000 on umbrellas and rocks at Sugar Beach while he was away at rehab – citing it as an example of the gravy only he can stop.
But that’s not true – the money was spent before he became mayor.
Ford told Fairchild TV the “gravy train obviously was back right on the rails” while he was in rehab.
“As soon as I go away they go and spend a million dollars on rocks and umbrellas,” he said.
The beach was finished in August, 2010—a few months before Ford was elected mayor. The money had been approved before then by Waterfront Toronto.
The mayor was also photographed near Sugar Beach in 2010 by the Globe and Mail.
The money has never gone to a vote at city council but was revealed in a recent report while the mayor was at rehab.
The mayor ignored questions about his claims Tuesday as he walked past reporters outside his office. In an email his office said he is “highly concerned” about a “lack of oversight with public money at Waterfront Toronto.”
His office would not say why he maintains the money was spent while he was away.
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