Mayor Rob Ford: Wynne will intervene if council can ‘clearly indicate’ dysfunction

ABOVE: Kathleen Wynne explains what she will need to intervene in Toronto’s mayoral crisis. Alan Carter reports. 

If Toronto’s city council can “clearly indicate” its dysfunction, Kathleen Wynne will intervene, the premier said Thursday.

But she also wants the approval of the opposition parties, and NDP leader Andrea Horwath is unlikely to agree.

Her hastily-called press conference came a day after council formally asked Mayor Rob Ford to resign (he has said he won’t) and hours after he apologized, again, in the wake of fresh allegations he verbally abused an employee and had his staffers buy him booze.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

There is no way to impeach a mayor in Toronto.

Council voted 37-5 Wednesday to urge the mayor to step aside. He refused.  Denzil Minnan-Wong introduced the motion and was among the most vocal councillors calling for the mayor’s resignation and on Thursday said he’s pleased Wynne has “left the door open” to removing the mayor.

But several councillors expressed concern about the precedent set by the province interfering. Minnan-Wong hopes the revelations contained within the police documents may sway those councillors.

“I would hope that members of council would be moved to understand that these are very extraordinary circumstances and the public are expecting us to take some level of action,” he said.

Wynne said council would have to “clearly indicate” they are unable to function – what that means, she didn’t say – but Minnan-Wong thinks council would need a near-unanimous vote.

“If we cannot find a consensus there will be no change because at the present time as we all know, the mayor says he’s not going anywhere,” he said.

Minnan-Wong added he thinks council would need a near-unanimous vote but did not say if, or when, he would put forward a motion requesting the province’s help. Instead, he first wants to gauge the interest of his colleagues.

Read more: How other cities handle politicians behaving badly

Wynne said it’s up to the city to address its “issues” but if councillors could “clearly indicate that they lack the ability to function” the province would request they be provided with “new tools” – presumably including the ability oust a sitting mayor.

But it isn’t clear what those tools are and what would “clearly indicate” an inability to function. Wynne didn’t take questions after reading her statement.

“Because of the extraordinary and unique nature of this type of intervention, I would consult with the other party leaders to see if our legislature could move unanimously if required,” she said at Queen’s Park Thursday. “The last thing this terrible situation needs is a layer of partisan politics. Within Ontario’s legislature and across this city, we all have to stand together to represent the best interests of the people.”

But Horwath told Global News Thursday she wants the municipal government to fix its own problems.

“Like many people I’ve been watching the problems at Toronto City Hall with concern. That said, I have faith in the people of Toronto and their elected City Council to deal with the challenges they’re facing.”

PC leader Tim Hudak did not respond to requests for comment.

Related: Does using taxpayer-funded staffers to buy booze count as gravy?

The remarks come 24 hours after an Ontario court released mostly unredacted police documents from an investigation into Ford and his friend Alexander “Sandro” Lisi. None of the statements in the documents have been proven in court.

The documents detail several interviews with former staff members in the mayor’s office during which they alleged the mayor asked them to buy alcohol, was inebriated at city hall, may have used cocaine and was seen with a possible sex worker.  The mayor has denied the allegations and threatened legal action against his former employees.