TORONTO – The City with Mayor Rob Ford and Doug Ford is officially off the air. In tribute, Global News takes a look at five memorable things the mayor said on his weekly radio show.
In no particular order:
May 26, 2013: “Bunch of maggots.”
That’s how the mayor described Toronto’s media during his first radio show following media reports from Gawker and The Toronto Star about a video showing him smoking what looked like crack cocaine.
His brother chimed in as well:
“The gloves are off,” Doug Ford said. “The point is, they’re coming after us, I’m coming after them. This is new politics, folks.”
The mayor apologized for the remark to members of the city hall press gallery a few days later.
November 3, 2013: “I shouldn’t have got hammered down at the Danforth.”
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During the last edition of The City, the mayor admitted he was “hammered” at the Taste of the Danforth during his blanket apology for mostly unspecified “mistakes.”
This was the second time he had addressed his time on the Danforth on his radio show. The last time, he said he had “a couple of beers” and that he was sorry if he offended anyone but he didn’t think he offended anyone.
May 26, 2013: “I can’t comment on a video that doesn’t exist,”
Shortly after calling reporters as “maggots” he also used would become his go-to response when asked about the video showing him smoking what could be crack cocaine.
June 2, 2013: “I’ve saved a billion dollars in two years.”
Seems straightforward, right? And it’s something both Fords repeat whenever they cite their successes since Rob Ford became mayor.
The claim was dissected by The Grid, The Toronto Star, Metro News, and The Globe and Mail. It even puzzled some councillors.
May 26, 2013: “We’re bringing accountability to city hall. First time ever.”
The mayor is big on accountability. He was, for example, among the first councillors to post expenses online. Public anger over a $12,000 goodbye party helped propel him to victory in 2010. Since becoming mayor, he’s also been infuriated over $75,000 being spent on chairs (just weeks after pledging $910 million, plus operating costs, for Scarborough transit the city could have gotten for free) and a city staff member caught sleeping on the job.
But the mayor has also twice been accused of flouting the city’s code of conduct by using city resources to solicit donations for his football foundation.
And between May and this past Tuesday, the mayor refused to answer questions – calling them “ridiculous” – when asked if he has smoked crack cocaine since becoming mayor. (He changed tack on Tuesday, prompting reporters to ask him the question again, then asserting they just hadn’t asked it “correctly” before)
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