TORONTO – As the controversy surrounding Toronto Mayor Rob Ford captivates the country, the public continues to share opinions surrounding the scandal online.
A Facebook group called “Stand Up for Toronto – Let’s Demand Rob Ford’s Resignation,” created late Monday, calls for those concerned with Ford’s ability to run the city to gather Saturday at Nathan Philips Square, located just outside of city hall, for a peaceful rally.
The event page had received over 3,500 RSVP’s of people planning to attend as of Friday morning.
Organizers of the rally have asked participants to meet at Nathan Phillips Square before noon Saturday.
Read more: Rally asking Ford to resign garners huge support online
But while calls for the mayor to step down grow on social media, so does support for the embattled mayor.
A Facebook group called, “I Hate The War on Mayor Rob Ford,” acts as a forum for people who are sick of what organizers describe as a “constant sniping” at Ford.
“You may not like him. You may have voted against him. But LIKE this page if you’re sick and tired of the non-stop character assassination by the media and special-interest groups against Toronto Mayor Rob Ford,” reads the description on the group’s Facebook page.
Threads on the group show support for the mayor, including happy birthday messages from ‘fans’, along with criticism towards the media and members of the public who, the group believes, are jumping to conclusions about the mayor.
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The group also has a Twitter account and tweets using the hashtag #LetFordBe.
The group criticized those who spoke of donating to Gawker’s Crackstarter fund – organized to raise money for a video that allegedly shows a man appearing to match the description of Ford smoking what appears to be crack cocaine.
Global News has not seen the video and therefore cannot verify its authenticity.
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.
One thread in the group also mentions attending the rally planned for Saturday and talks of creating a “Ford Nation” rally of their own.
“Those of you with a dark pit in your soul, who sent your money to pay for a crack dealer character assassination extortion racket instead of to a worthy charity like Hospital for Sick Children – guess what, Gawker has your money in their own bank account, and you have no say on how it’s spent,” read a post by the group’s administrator on Tuesday.
“Oh yeah, and forgot to mention: it’s Tuesday and Rob Ford is still Mayor.”
Global News has contacted the administrator of the group to ask if they plan to attend Saturday’s rally, but did not receive a response by time of publishing. We will update this story if there is response.
A search on Facebook revealed a pro-Rob Ford rally event listing on the social network, slated to begin at 10:00 a.m. at Nathan Phillips Square – the same location of the anti-Ford rally – however, only 13 users had RSVP’d to the event by Friday morning.
Global News has contacted the organizers of the pro-Ford rally to find out what they are planning, but did not receive a response by time of publishing.
Another Facebook page, called “Let’s show support for Rob Ford as he struggles with his demons,” showed support for the mayor – though most of the page’s posts show links to stories surrounding the current allegations.
“I feel sorry for Rob. He needs to get help and he is unlikely to do so as long as those people around him keep covering for him,” reads the Facebook page description in part.
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