[November 19, 2013]TORONTO (AP) — After a tempestuous
debate, Toronto's City Council has stripped Mayor Rob Ford of the last
of his substantive powers because of multiple scandals, but further
turmoil seems inevitable.
The mayor, defiant despite admissions of illegal drug use and
heavy drinking, vowed "outright war" to take on his critics in next
year's election.
"This is nothing more than a coup d'etat," Ford said just before a
series of votes went against him on Monday. "What's happening here
today is not a democratic process — it's a dictatorship process."
The council session was one of the stormiest in memory as the burly
mayor argued with colleagues and members of the public and at one
point knocked down a petite councilwoman as he charged toward one of
his hecklers. Cries of "Shame, shame" came from the gallery.
The council voted overwhelmingly in favor of slashing Ford's office
budget by 60 percent and allowing mayoral staff to join the deputy
mayor, Norm Kelly. Ford now effectively has no legislative power, as
he will no longer chair the executive committee, though he retains
his title and ability to represent Toronto at official functions.
Kelly, 72, has been in politics since the 1970s, and is considered a
low-key, non-ideological politician with a knack for working
effectively across factional lines.
"The mayor wants to wage war. I want to wage peace," said Kelly
after the council session in effect made him the city's most
powerful leader.
Ford gave no indication he would cooperate in a tranquil transition,
instead looking ahead to the October 2014 election.
"I'm going to do everything in my power to beat you guys," he said.
The debate became heated after Ford paced around the council chamber
and traded barbs with onlookers. The speaker asked security to clear
the gallery and a recess was called, but not before Ford had
barreled toward his detractors, mowing into Councilor Pam McConnell,
who is in her 60s.
Another councilor asked Ford to apologize. Ford said he was rushing
to the defense of his brother, city Councilor Doug Ford, and
accidentally knocked McConnell down.
"I picked her up," the 44-year-old mayor said. "I ran around because
I thought my brother was getting into an altercation."
Visibly shaken after Ford ran her over, McConnell said she never
expected such chaos.
"This is the seat of democracy, it is not a football field," she
said. "I just wasn't ready."
The motion approved by the council was revised from an even tougher
version to ward off potential legal challenges. The city's lawyer
said the proposal does not render Ford "mayor in name only."
However, Ford asserted that he and his aides field tens of thousands
of emails and phone calls yearly, and said the pared-down budget and
staff would be inadequate.
The council does not have the power to remove Ford from office
unless he is convicted of a crime. It pursued the strongest recourse
available after recent revelations that Ford smoked crack cocaine
and his repeated outbursts of erratic behavior.
"Mayor Ford has had many choices ... Would he change his behavior?
Would he step aside and seek help?" said Councilor John Filion. "The
mayor unfortunately has chosen the path of denial. Now it's time to
take away the keys."
"The new allegations pile up faster than the old ones can be dealt
with. If many Torontonians were initially fascinated by the drama,
they are now fed up with it. They want it to end," Filion said.
The council rejected a motion proposing an early mayoral election,
and also rejected a motion to give Ford another month to get expert
medical opinion on whether he was capable of carrying out his
duties.
Councilor Denzil Minnan-Wong, a former Ford ally, noted that
organizers of Sunday's annual Santa Claus parade in Toronto had
asked the mayor not to attend.
"Through your choices, your bad actions, you sir have lost the
ability to lead this city," Minnan-Wong said.
Toronto, a city of 2.7 million people, has been abuzz with the Ford
melodrama since May, when news outlets reported that he had been
caught on video smoking crack cocaine.
Recently released court documents show the mayor became the subject
of a police investigation after those reports surfaced. Ford, who
denied there was any incriminating video, now acknowledges the
reports were accurate. Police said they had obtained a copy of a
video that appears to show Ford puffing on a crack pipe, but did not
release its contents because it is evidence in the case against Ford
associate Alexander Lisi, who faces trial on drug and extortion
charges.
In interviews with police, former Ford staffers have made further
accusations, saying the mayor drank heavily, sometimes drove while
intoxicated and pressured a female staffer to engage in oral sex.
Ford spouted an obscenity on live television last week while denying
the sex allegation, saying he was "happily married" and using crude
language to assert that he enjoys enough oral sex at home.
Last week, after admitting to excessive drinking and buying illegal
drugs, Ford disclosed that he is seeking medical help. But he and
his family insist he is not an addict and does not need rehab.
In a TV interview Monday night for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.,
Ford said he had only smoked crack cocaine once, calling it "an
isolated incident." He denied that he has driven while drunk, but
admitted that he had bought marijuana since becoming mayor.
The mayor declared that he was "finished" with alcohol.
"I've had a come-to-Jesus moment if you want to call it that," Ford
said. "Just the humiliation and the belittling and the people I've
let down. And it's all because of alcohol. Excessive, stupid,
immature behavior and that's it."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper — like Ford a Conservative — was in
Toronto on Monday to meet with area Parliament members from his
party. Harper's office issued a statement which said the latest
allegations against Ford "are troubling."
"Our Government does not condone illegal drug use, especially by
elected officials while in office," it said.
Ford and his brother Doug made their debut on a current events
television show broadcast Monday night called "Ford Nation" on the
conservative tabloid Sun News Network in Canada.
Rob Ford told viewers they would see a change in him over the next
few months. "I'll take a urine sample right now," Ford said on the
show, which was taped Sunday.
Ford was elected three years ago with overwhelming support from
Toronto's conservative-leaning outer suburbs, where many voters felt
angry about what they considered wasteful spending and elitist
politics at City Hall. He campaigned on promises to "stop the gravy
train" by curbing public spending and keeping taxes low.
