ABOVE: Mayor Rob Ford readies himself for a “rumble in the jungle.” Jackson Proskow reports.
TORONTO – Less than 24 hours before city council’s set to debate its crack-smoking mayor’s fitness for office, Mayor Rob Ford was selling bobbleheads.
On Wednesday, he will face an unprecedented motion of non-confidence from his fellow councillors. The motion, put forward by former Ford ally Denzil Minnan-Wong, asks the embattled mayor for an apology, cooperation with the Toronto Police and temporary leave of absence.
The mayor may be grilled by his fellow councillors, though there’s nothing to keep him from avoiding any uncomfortable questions about the crack allegations as he has been wont to do in the past.
The mayor has prioritized Minnan-Wong’s motion for Wednesday’s council meeting, making it the first item on the agenda.
The motion is toothless: Barring incarceration it’s up to the mayor to step down and he has repeatedly stated that won’t happen.
But “sometimes symbol matter,” says Ryerson University politics professor Myer Siemiatycki. And while the motion can’t force the mayor out of office it does attempt to take the temperature of the mayor’s colleagues.
“Will emotion like this prompt the mayor to alter his point of view? We haven’t found anything yet that prompts the mayor to alter his practice, his attitudes, his views, his behaviour. Who knows? This hypothetically might,” Siemiatycki said. “But even if not, it has the virtue having a degree of judgement by his peers, by those who watch him and know him best.”
WATCH: Doug ford says the mayor is going to be put through a “public flogging.”
Councillor Doug Ford, the mayor’s brother and ardent supporter, suggested the motion was little more than Minnan-Wong positioning himself for a mayoral run. Minnan-Wong said on CP24 Tuesday that he’s thinking about running for mayor.
“You see folks like Denzil Minnan-Wong, the biggest opportunist down here. Why doesn’t he come out and tell the people the truth? Why doesn’t he just come out and say ‘I’m running for mayor and that’s the reason I’m doing this’? That’s what he should do.”
But the mayor didn’t seem worried Tuesday as he channelled Muhammad Ali:
Allegations of crack cocaine use came to a head two weeks ago when police chief Bill Blair said he had seen the video showing the mayor smoking what could be crack cocaine.
Days later the mayor admitted to smoking crack cocaine but has refused to step aside.
Council begins at 9 a.m. Wednesday. Global News will have a live blog with the latest updates throughout the day.
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