Reporter Daniel Dale has flatly rejected the apology made this afternoon by Mayor Ford. The apology was apparently intended to defuse and bring an end to the litigation which has been launched by Mr. Dale following the nasty slur to the effect that Mr.Dale was a pedophile. The reporter spoke to CP24 an hour or so after the mayor’s rather defensive apology. Dale said he wants a full, abject and complete apology and that what Mr. Ford said is not enough. Dale noted the mayor did not retract nor apologize for the false statement that the reporter was taking pictures of the Ford children. The slur occurred during an interview with Conrad Black on Zoomer TV. The interview has taken a lot of media and public criticism for the servile and uncritical way in which Black conducted himself. Dale served Ford with a libel notice last week demanding an apology and retraction. Ford read a statement in council today saying he did not mean to insinuate anything about Dale personally. He said he apologizes to Dale if his words caused any harm or offence. During the interview with Black. Ford claimed that Dale was in his backyard in May 2012, “taking pictures of little kids,” and Ford added he didn’t want to say “that word, but you start thinking what this guy is all about.” Ford later responded to reporters questions about the remarks by saying he stood by every word, but said today that it’s “unfortunate” that the word he never said was “ascribed” to him by the media. There was a strong strain of defensiveness in the mayor’s apology which is common to his retractions and or explanations. Laymen and perhaps lawyers might find this tone to be a sign that the regret being expressed is not in fact sincere. Here is the video.
