TORONTO – Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has denied claims made by former mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson that he made inappropriate comments to her while attending a fundraising event Thursday night.
Ford issued a statement saying “false allegations” were made, emphasizing that they are “absolutely, completely false.”
“What is more surprising is that a woman who has aspired to be a civic leader would cry wolf on a day where we should be celebrating women across the globe,” said the statement.
Thomson posted a photo of herself with Ford on her Facebook page early Friday after attending a Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee event.
Thomson wrote: “Thought it was a friendly hello to Toronto Mayor Rob Ford at the CJPAC Action Party tonight until he suggested I should have been in Florida with him last week because his wife wasn’t there. Seriously wanted to punch him in the face. Happy International Women’s Day!”
Shortly after the image was posted, Thomson added a second comment.
“I’ve never seen him so out of it. I know I shouldn’t be pissed but after spending 10 months on the campaign trail together you expect a little bit of respect at the very least for my husband.”
In the photo, Thomson can be seen standing to the right of Ford while a third person stood to the mayor’s left, just outside of the frame.
As Facebook users began to comment on the photo, Thomson later posted: “Frederick guess where his hand was in this picture? I must go shower….”
Watch the raw video as Thomson describes Ford’s behaviour to Global Toronto reporter Jackson Proskow and others on Friday morning:
Warning: This video contains language that some people may find offensive.
In a interview on Global Toronto’s The Morning Show, Thomson called her relationship with Ford ‘friendly, but serious.’
“We are friendly, but serious and I thought it was a little bizarre, but I fluffed it off,” Thomson said of Ford’s comment. “Then we posed for a picture and he grabbed my butt.”
Thomson said that Ford seemed a little off at the event, but he was not slurring his speech.
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