TORONTO – Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday says he believes in the existence of the alleged video of Mayor Rob Ford smoking what could be crack cocaine, but says he’s unsure about the video’s authenticity.
“Whether it’s been one that’s doctored or whether it’s been tinkered with or not, we won’t know until we get the video,” Holyday said. “I just want to see the video, then that will answer a lot of questions.”
The Toronto Star and Gawker recently reported that a video exists showing someone who could be the mayor smoking what might be crack cocaine.
The mayor however said no such video exists and called the allegations “ridiculous.”
Councillor Doug Ford said the mayor told him the allegations were “untrue.”
“I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I addicted to crack cocaine,” the mayor said at a press conference Friday.
Global News has not seen the alleged video and cannot verify its authenticity.
Related: Gawker editor defends paying for alleged Ford video
Holyday echoed the mayor’s comments on Monday that it is “business as usual” at city hall and the mayor needs to “carry on.”
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford meets with his executive committee Tuesday for the first time since the emergence of drug allegations and series of high-profile departures from city hall.
The committee is expected to discuss the city’s library budget and a one-metre passing rule for cyclists, among other items.
The mayor’s press secretary George Christopoulos and his special assistant in communications, Isaac Ransom, both left their positions in the mayor’s office Monday.
Ford said Monday that it was “business as usual” at city hall.
Watch: Mayor Rob Ford celebrates birthday as cake bearing protestors ask him to resign
However, John Tory doubts that business is proceeding as usual behind closed doors.
“Any organization where say at least three of the five top people leave in five days, there’s problems there,” the Focus Ontario host and former Conservative MP told Global Toronto Tuesday morning.
WATCH: John Tory speaks about the ongoing controversy surround Mayor Rob Ford.
Ford fired his chief of staff, Mark Towhey, on Friday.
On his radio show Sunday, Ford refused to comment on why Towhey was let go. But according to media reports citing unnamed sources close to the administration, Towhey advised the mayor to seek help for his addiction.
Towhey, however, has not said why he was fired from the mayor’s office.
Tory says that in his experience, there are only two reasons a press secretary would resign under such sudden circumstances: if they disagreed with the way a situation was being handled, or if they were asked to peddle a lie.
He stressed that a mayor’s press secretary is arguably more respected than the chief of staff.
“This is a person who speaks for you, who deals with the media for you. I just think that the mayor would be unwise, as he’s done, to minimize this.”
With files from The Canadian Press
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