Doug Ford launches petition to get stadium renamed after deceased brother

Despite a motion being defeated at city council, Doug Ford is not giving up on the idea of having an Etobicoke stadium renamed after his deceased brother.

In an email to Ford Nation supporters, Ford says he is “stunned at the sheer pettiness” of councillors who denied the request to have Centennial Stadium renamed after former Mayor Rob Ford.

The motion was defeated by a vote of 24-11.

Ford called his former colleagues at City Hall “cold hearted hypocrites” for choosing to focus on the negative aspects of Rob Ford’s tenure as mayor rather than his years of civic and neighbourhood service.

Rob Ford became a celebrity in light of his admitted crack cocaine use, alcohol abuse, lewd comments and at times outrageous behaviour that transformed his mayoral office into an unprecedented spectacle.

He died in March 2016 at the age of 46 after being diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer.

“Rob spent thousands of hours of his own time to help youth find a way to develop leadership skills, to team build, and to have a safe place to go after school with his football foundation and the teams that he coached,” writes Ford. “There couldn’t be a more fitting tribute to his memory.”

The same motion recommended honouring two other council members who died earlier this year — Deputy Mayor Pam McConnell and Coun. Ron Moeser. Council approved that part of the motion by a vote of 33-2

Ford also singled out councillors for their “limp excuse” that they shouldn’t be naming things after politicians, pointing out the recent renaming of Howard Moscoe Way and Phil Givens Park.

Doug Ford asks that people sign the online petition, adding that the matter will come before council again and “we need to show everyone that Ford Nation can’t be ignored.”