Toronto council rejects bid to rename Centennial Park stadium after Rob Ford

Toronto city council has rejected a motion that would have renamed Etobicoke’s Centennial Park stadium in honour of former mayor, Rob Ford.

Ford, who was elected mayor in 2010 and later re-elected as a councillor in 2014 after bowing out of the mayoral race due to his health, died in 2016 after an 18-month battle with a rare form of cancer.

Mayor John Tory had introduced the motion for consideration during Wednesday’s council meeting. It contained a second recommendation that wished to identify appropriate recognitions for former members of council, Deputy Mayor Pam McConnell and Councillor Ron Moeser, who both passed away earlier this year.

LISTEN: AM640’s Mike Stafford talks to Doug Ford after motion to name stadium after brother Rob was rejected.

Council rejected the first recommendation 11-24 that would have renamed Centennial Park’s stadium as the “Rob Ford Memorial Stadium” and supported the second item in a 33-2 vote.

Ward 26 Councillor Jon Burnside voted against both recommendations, stating it’s too early to make a decision.

“We need to step back, take a breather, have a break and have a cooling-off period so that we can actually make a decision not based on our emotions, positive or negative.”

In regards to renaming Centennial Park stadium, Burnside felt the question is bigger than one person.

“We need to shift our focus and do more to recognize everyday citizens, people who have volunteered hours, days, years of their lives to make our city better.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We need to shift our focus and do more to recognize everyday citizens, people who have volunteered hours, days, years of their lives to make our city better."

Before the vote, Mayor John Tory had hoped for some support from council but acknowledged there was significant debate about naming properties after people who hold public office.

“But I believe in the case of these three people, they all served lengthy periods of time in public office and so the matter of considering such a possibility is entirely proper in these three cases.”

Tory had initially recommended the move to councillors in a letter last Thursday, which had cited the support of the Ford family.

The location of Centennial Park’s stadium was decided upon because of Ford’s coaching dedication to football programs in Toronto.

With files from David Shum, Global News.