Mayor Ford was subdued and contrite as he appeared before reporters today to apologize for the events which have led to his removal from office. Mr. Ford acknowledged he could have done things differently in the matter that caused an Ontario judge to order him to give up the Toronto mayoralty. “Looking back, maybe I could have expressed myself in a different way. To everyone who believes I should have done this differently, I sincerely apologize,” Ford read from a prepared statement which contained many passages that had the sound of careful legal advice. Mr. Ford said his decision to appeal was not a criticism of the court. In an attempt to explain himself, the Mayor said: “I was focused on raising money to help underprivileged youth. I never believed there was a conflict of interest because I had nothing to gain and the city had nothing to lose. But I respect the court’s decision,” said Ford, who sounded hoarse. The mayor was in much feistier form a day earlier, when he attributed the court decision to “left-wing politics.” “The left wing wants me out of here and they’ll do anything in their power to,” he said at the time. His comments Tuesday came hours after city solicitor Anna Kinastowski said it is the opinion of the City of Toronto’s legal team that Ford would not be able to run for mayor until 2014.
