Rob Ford apologizes for his ‘words and actions’ at city council

Rob Ford stood before council on Tuesday and offered a “heartfelt apology” for racial slurs he used during his term as mayor.

Though the man who made the complaint is wondering just how heartfelt it was.

Samuel Getachew filed a complaint against Ford with the city’s Integrity Commissioner in the summer.

“When Mayor Ford uses poor defamatory words to describe blacks, I cannot help but wonder how the mayor of Canada’s largest, most affluent and multicultural city doesn’t face any consequences,” Getachew wrote in a blog post at the time.

Last week, the Integrity Commissioner released a report saying the former mayor violated council’s code of conduct and called for an apology in front of the chamber.

“I want to call to your attention to the fact that I’ve taken time to go through the Integrity Commissioner’s report on a formal complaint lodged against me while I was mayor of this great city,” Ford said soon after council began its monthly meeting.

“I am aware of [the] hurtful nature of my comments, and the fact that they’re absolutely unacceptable. I understand the concern brought forward in the report, including the standards set out by the Ontario Human Rights Code.”

Ford said he is “deeply ashamed” of what he said, and that the comments have discredited himself and council.

“I wish to offer my heartfelt apology for my words and actions,” he added.

Ford has admitted to insulting a cab driver back in 2012 by calling him a derogatory name and using ‘fake language sounds’ to imitate the driver.

The now-councillor also admits to the harsh language he used last year to describe members of the Italian and black community in a tape that was leaked to the Toronto Star.

Those comments were the reason a formal complaint was filed back in July.

He has already apologised once after returning from rehab but the complainant dismissed it, saying it wasn’t specific enough.

Mayor John Tory said it was time for council to move ahead.

“Having sat and watched him apologize this morning I’m satisfied that his apology was sincere,” he said. “I’d like to see this whole thing put behind us in every respect…This was not a happy chapter that speaks of the kind of commitment to diversity…that we prize so highly in the city.”

Click here to read the full report from Integrity Commissioner Valerie Jepson.

Watch the rest of city council’s proceedings — live on CityNews.ca/live and 680NEWS.com/livevideo.

Click here for the agenda.