Thursday was Day Eight of the Rob Ford crisis — eight days since Police Chief Blair’s news conference releasing court documents on the surveillance of the mayor and Alexander Lisi. The day was marked by further appeals and pleadings for Mr. Ford to step down temporarily or to resign.
- The day began with the Toronto Star posting a previously unknown video showing the mayor in a drunken rant. It can be seen here. It is both comic and fearful — full of threats against someone or more than one individual. It has only two possible points of reference. Mr. Ford says “Randy walks…” Shortly after, as the mayor insists he is going to kill someone, the voice of an unidentified person says by way of warning: “These kids are pros buddy.”
- Councillor George Mammoliti announced that this video had prompted him to ask the mayor to step down to deal with his problem.
- The mayor commented on the video but found himself largely at a loss for words. He said he had been inebriated but he did not answer questions about who he was threatening or to whom he was talking.
- Finance Minister Flaherty found himself choked up as he tried to deal with the mayor’s situation. Mr. Flaherty is a friend of the family from the time he served in the Mike Harris government with Mr.Ford’s father.
- In the afternoon,. Kevin Donovan, the Star reporter who has been in the forefront of the Ford investigation, said the paper had paid $5,000 for the video. Donovan said it had been recorded in the home of a businessman who was a supporter of Mr.Ford”s. But he provided no specifics nor did he name the businessman or the source of the video.
- Still later, Stephen LeDrew was invited to the home of Mr. Ford’s mother where he interviewed both Mrs. Ford and her daughter, the mayor’s sister, Kathy Mrs. Ford said of her son “maybe he does need some help in counselling”. She said if he did this he would stay “on the straight and narrow.” It seemed like a mother’s charitable view of her son. His sister called the mayor’s associates “sickening” But they both insisted he did not need “rehabilitation.” Interview
- Finally, the Toronto Sun saysa former common-law spouse of Kathy Ford who vowed to expose the Ford family to the media was savagely beaten in jail because he was a “bother” to the Toronto mayor, a judge told his sentencing hearing. Justice Paul French said Scott MacIntyre “was viciously attacked and severely beaten” by inmates on March 12, 2012, in a “jail-house justice” episode..
