Mayor dismisses video purportedly showing him smoking the drug as 'nonsense' a day after firing longtime chief of staff
The embattled mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford, was forced on Friday to repeat a denial of allegations that he uses crack cocaine and dismiss descriptions of a video purportedly showing him smoking the drug as "nonsense".
At a press conference, Ford refused to answer questions from a packed crowd of journalists. However, he was firm in stating that he does not use hard drugs or does not have any form of substance abuse problem. "I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine," Ford said.
The alleged crack smoking video has not been released publicly but reports on the gossip website Gawker and in the Toronto Star claimed it was taken by men who said they had sold the drug to Ford. Journalists at the two organisations have written lengthy descriptions of a video they say they have watched, and Gawker has even launched an appeal to raise $200,000 to buy the video and publish it.
The Star reported that two journalists had watched a video that appeared to show Ford sitting in a chair, inhaling from what appears to be a glass crack pipe. Gawker and the Star said the video was shown to them by a drug dealer who was trying to sell it. The Star also reported that in the video Ford allegedly made a racist remark about high school football students he coached.
Ford said he could not comment on the video at all. "I cannot comment on a video that I have never seen or does not exist," he said. He attacked the media for running with the story. "It is very unfortunate that my colleagues and great people of this city have been exposed to the fact that I have been judged by the media without any evidence," he said. "This past week has not been an easy one. It has taken a great toll on my family and my friends and the great people of Toronto."
Ford has been embroiled in almost weekly controversies about his behaviour since he was elected in 2010. The Toronto Star reported earlier this year that he was asked to leave a gala fundraiser for wounded Canadian soldiers because he appeared to be intoxicated.
During his campaign for mayor, Ford vehemently denied a 1999 arrest for marijuana possession in Florida; he later acknowledged it was true, after confronted with evidence. He pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and failing to give a breath sample to police.
Yet the crack allegations have no doubt been the biggest scandal to hit Ford, creating headlines around the world and becoming the subject of endless jokes on late-night comedy shows. Earlier on Friday the executive committee of Toronto city council – which acts as sort of cabinet to the mayor – released a letter asking Ford to address the allegations "openly and transparently". That came a day after Canadian media reported that Ford's chief of staff, Mark Towhey, had been fired after telling the mayor to go to rehab. According to reports in the Toronto Sun, the National Post and CBC News, Towhey urged Ford to "go away, deal with this and then come back".
Perhaps not surprisingly, Ford has been enduring a roasting in the local press. The Toronto Sun ran its story on Towhey's concerns under a front-page splash headline that read simply: "Go to rehab".
Yet at the press conference, Ford appeared committed to remaining in his job. "It is business as usual at City Hall. This administration is turning the corner, and I will continue to do what the great people of the city elected me to do and that was to keep taxes low, to improve customer service and to reduce the size and costs of government and invest in infrastructure," he said.