2 executive committee members propose Ford take a leave of absence

Two members of the mayor’s executive committee are urging Rob Ford to take a leave of absence to address his personal issues after he admitted to smoking crack cocaine.

Councillors Denzil Minnan-Wong and Peter Milczyn drafted the motion moments after Ford made the crack cocaine admission.

The motion also calls for Ford to apologize to the city for “misleading” residents about the existence of a video, that Ford co-operate with Toronto police in their investigation, apologize for writing a letter of reference for Alexander Lisi, and that Ford respond to council directly and not address them through the media. The proposal will be considered at next week’s council meeting.

Read the full motion at the end of the article.

In May, Toronto Star and Gawker reported that they viewed a cellphone video that appeared to show the mayor smoking crack cocaine. Ford initially said he could not comment on a video he had not seen or did not exist. Police said last week they recovered videos including one that was “consistent” with what had been reported by the two media outlets.

On the advice of his lawyer Dennis Morris, Ford refused an invitation to speak with Det. Sgt. Gary Grioux, the lead officer in the investigation targeting him and his friend Alexander Lisi.

Lisi is facing an extortion charge for his attempts to retrieve the video. The allegation has not been proven in court.

Earlier on Tuesday, two other councillors had asked to suspend the mayor’s powers.

If the motion from councillors John Filion and Paul Ainslie is approved, Ford wouldn’t be able to remove the deputy mayor and councillors from committee.

“They [Ford and his brother, Coun. Doug Ford] just keep using the same inappropriate playbook,” Filion said at city hall.
“It’s hard to even sum it up – they have just so crossed the line.”

He was referring to Doug Ford who called on Toronto police chief Bill Blair to step aside earlier Tuesday for his personal comments about the video and that he was in a conflict of interest for vacationing with a police board member. Both Fords have also said police should release the video, but police say it’s evidence that will be used to prosecute Lisi on the extortion charge.

“It was bad enough when it was attacking the media or members of council who disagreed with him. It’s clear now there’s nowhere they’ll stop attacking when they attack the chief of police,” Filion said.

“They are polarizing the city in such an unhealthy way.”

The motion would limit the mayor’s power to remove councillors from committee and suspend his ability to dismiss or appoint standing committee chairs and his ability to shuffle executive committee members.

Ford has said he will not step down.

The motion will go before council in December.

Read the motion from Minnan-Wong and Milczyn below:

Members of executive committee call on Toronto mayor to step aside (Part Two) by CityNewsToronto

Read the motion from Filion and Ainslie below: