TORONTO – Mayor Rob Ford berated Toronto Star reporters Tuesday, calling them “liars” after allegations surfaced in the newspaper that he has a drinking problem but refuses to seek treatment.
“Those closest to Ford say the severity of the problem fluctuates,” the newspaper alleged in a story that quotes several unnamed sources.
The Star claimed Ford was asked to leave a Canadian Armed Forces gala on Feb. 23 because organizers suspected he was impaired.
Ford said the allegations were “nonsense.”
“They’re relentless. I’ll go head to head with the Toronto Star anytime,” Ford said. “It’s lies after lies and lies, I’ve called you pathological liars and you are.”
According to the newspaper, Ford was speaking “in a rambling, incoherent manner that alarmed some of the guests” at the event.
“At one point, he stumbled and nearly fell on the stairs near the washrooms, according to people involved in organizing the event.”
But Defence Minister Peter MacKay, who was at the event, issued a brief statement Tuesday saying Ford “looked fine to me.”
Ford’s press secretary George Christopoulous also said the mayor “was never asked to leave the gala.”
The mayor’s brother, councillor Doug Ford, went on AM640 on Tuesday morning to criticize the Toronto Star. He denied the mayor has an alcohol or drug problem.
“I’ve never seen Rob drink at any event,” Ford said. “Ever.”
But the councillor said they won’t challenge the newspaper in court.
“They want to drag us into another lawsuit and then it’s going to be about Rob Ford suing the Star for the next two years,” Ford said. “It’s a non-stop witch hunt. We’re fed up.”
The article was written by City Hall reporter Robyn Doolittle and veteran Star investigative reporter Kevin Donovan. Speaking via telephone on Global Toronto’s The Morning Show, Donovan defended the newspaper’s use of unnamed sources in the story.
“I wish everybody would go on the record when we interview them but from time to time the story is so sensitive that people are afraid to speak out, they’re afraid of political retribution, they might be people who do business with the City of other levels of government and they don’t want to be seen to be speaking out,” he explained. “We certainly give a lot of thought to using unnamed sources. We don’t like it but in this case it was the only way to publish the story.”
Donovan said the mayor’s office was given a preview of the story last Friday and was asked repeatedly for an interview. Ford and his chief of staff Mark Towhey declined to comment.
At City Hall, deputy mayor Doug Holyday told reporters he has never seen the mayor have a drink and said he is not aware of any discussions to get him treatment. “The story would have a lot more credibility first off if it had the names of the people making the accusations attached to it,” he said.
John Tory, appearing on The Morning Show, said he has never seen Ford intoxicated. But the co-host of Focus Ontario said the mayor needs to respond to the allegations.
“Of course, the response could be a lawsuit,” said Tory. “You can’t sit back and let people say these kinds of things if they are absolutely untrue.”
Tory said Ford can’t just brush off the Star article.
“If it’s true then he’s got a problem and so he should deal with that for his own personal sake,” he said. “If it’s not true it’s a huge distraction for him and it’s very unfair to him.”
– with files by James Armstrong
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