Garrison Ball organizers defend decision not to invite Rob Ford

The organizers of Toronto’s annual Garrison Ball have sculpted a detailed defence for why Mayor Rob Ford was not invited to Saturday’s event — after being on the list for the past two years.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Hon. Col. John Wright said it’s never been a tradition to invite the mayor of Toronto to the ball, but the committee has done so when the occasion calls for it.

Ford was invited in 2012 and 2013, the chair said, because those events marked the anniversary of the War of 1812.

“As such, it was appropriate to invite the mayor of Toronto as the premier guest to both of those events because it focused on events specifically dealing with historic Toronto,” Wright said.

He said Ford accepted the invitation in 2012, but didn’t show. In 2013, the mayor turned up briefly.

A report after last year’s event on Feb. 23 claimed Ford had arrived late and apparently drunk and was asked to leave. Organizers denied playing a role in the mayor’s hasty departure.

This year, the Governor General’s Horse Guards is hosting the event, which will commemorate the liberation of Italy during the Second World War. The Italian Ambassador to Canada, Gian Lorenzo Cornado, is the guest of honour, and he will bring Tullio Guma, the Italian Consul General in Toronto.

That said, the organizers did ask Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly to choose “a representative” from the city to attend, and Kelly said he would.

Ford told reporters on Wednesday he was planning to go to the Garrison Ball.

“I’m pretty sure I am. I’m just not sure exactly. I have a number of events,” Ford said.

Wright, however, said all 800 tickets are accounted for.

“The event is completely sold out,” he said.

“As such, anyone who shows up without a ticket or official invitation as an official guest of the Garrison will not be accommodated as there will be no extra seating.”

The Garrison Ball takes place on Saturday at the Liberty Grand at Exhibition Place.