TORONTO – As Toronto Mayor Rob Ford remains relatively silent Tuesday regarding allegations that he was recorded on video appearing to smoke crack cocaine, some of his fellow councillors at city hall are calling on him to address the allegations.
He didn’t remain silent however during a special meeting on building a casino within the city.
Instead, he gave a six-minute speech on the issue before leaving the room without taking questions.
And upon arriving at his office, the mayor ignored a mob of reporters waiting outside of his office.
But many of his rivals on city council – and some allies – have called on the mayor to address the situation as soon as possible.
“It’s important for the mayor to clear the air on this video,” Councillor Paula Fletcher said. “If the allegations are true, I think many people will be bitterly disappointed. Because of course he’s been outspoken against guns and gangs, and if these allegations are true, it appears he has been hanging out with the guns and gangs crowd.”
On Friday, Ford claimed reports from the Toronto Star and Gawker alleging a video exists of him smoking crack cocaine as “ridiculous.”
His lawyer, Dennis Morris, told the Canadian Press that the reports are “false and defamatory.”
But the Canadian Press reports, Morris has not yet received any instructions on whether or not he should file a lawsuit.
Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti, a regular ally of Ford’s, said it is “totally up to the mayor” on when he would address the allegations and said the issue should be dealt with quickly so council can get back to city issues.
“How many of them have there been over the last three years? Many. When are we going to get to business? When are we going to get to the real business of the city of Toronto?” Mammoliti said. “When are we going to get to this stuff instead of all the innuendo?”
The Star and Gawker reported that the video had been shown to them by a group of men in Toronto connected to the drug trade.
Gawker is trying to crowd-fund $200,000 to pay for the video and the Star columnist Rosie Dimanno suggested the newspaper’s publisher pay for the video.
Premier Kathleen Wynne sidestepped questions from reporters about the allegations against Toronto’s mayor on Tuesday but did say that it would concern her if any personal problems kept the city from pursuing its operations.
“It’s concerning to me if there are issues, whether they are personal issues, that get in the way of a municipal government being able to do its business,” Wynne said. “Whatever those issues are, they need to be dealt with as quickly as possible, so the council and the leadership of the council can get on with the business of governing the city.”
Global News has not seen the alleged video and thus cannot verify allegations from the Star or Gawker.
Comments