Paul Ainslie admits to 3-day licence suspension

TORONTO – Councillor Paul Ainslie made a surprise announcement Thursday morning at city hall, revealing that he had his driving licence suspended for three days earlier in May after registering a warning level on a roadside breathalyser test.

The incident happened in Scarborough on May 3, Ainslie said, when he was driving home from a dinner party.

Ainslie surrendered his licence for three days, received a warning and is not facing any criminal charges.

In January, Ainslie’s fellow city councillor Ana Bailao pleaded guilty to having over 80 mgs of alcohol in her blood while driving.

She was arrested in October, 2012 near Harbord Street and Bathurst Street after the mayor’s Ball for the Arts.

Ainslie said he came forward on Thursday because there had been unsubstantiated, false allegations on twitter Wednesday night that he was facing criminal charges for driving under the influence.

“I haven’t been charged with any offence and I felt to be a responsible city councillor, to be responsible to my family, and to be responsible in particular to the residents of Ward 43 that elected me, that I make a statement.”

VIDEO: Councillor Paul Ainslie admits to a 3-day licence suspension.

While Ainslie said he was not “trying to send a message to the mayor,” his admission comes in the midst of allegations from the Toronto Star and American website Gawker that Mayor Rob Ford was videotaped in a video smoking what looks like crack cocaine.

Ford has called the allegations “ridiculous” but has not commented since the allegations arose on Friday.

Ainslie did however say that the mayor should address the “innuendo” that has arisen since the allegations.

“He’s our elected mayor; I think he has some decisions to make, as I did,” Ford said. “I felt that having innuendo out there about me driving under the influence, or DUI, had to be cleared up and that’s why I’m standing here today.”

Global News has not seen the alleged video of Mayor Rob Ford and thus cannot verify the Toronto Star’s or Gawker’s allegations.