Mayor Rob Ford says he’s working to try and rebuild trust with Torontonians, but knows that he won’t be able to win everyone back following a stint in rehab for alcohol addiction.
Ford made the comments in a half-hour interview with Newstalk 1010 personality Jerry Agar Friday morning.
Acknowledging that there will be those who won’t forgive him for his drug use, alcoholism, and offensive comments while in office, Ford also said he’s learned that he can no longer compartmentalize his public and private lives.
“I’m held to a higher standard,” Ford said. “You don’t have a private life as mayor. Everything was out in the open… there is no hiding.”
Still the mayor said many people have expressed their support and desire to see him re-elected.
“I guarantee there will be more people voting in this election,” Ford told Agar, saying that many people have told him they would vote for the first time in order to support him.
In fact, Ford laughed and joked he’ll “run down the street naked” if he gets 100 per cent voter support in the upcoming election.
The joke seemed to be a nod to a group of topless protesters who demonstrated outside the Newstalk studio ahead of Ford’s appearance.
The group – inspired by a shirtless jogger who confronted the mayor at a Canada Day event Tuesday -- held placards and chanted for the mayor to leave office.
Ford has described his addiction as a disease that will be with him forever and has said he will take things ‘one day at a time’ with his recovery. His office confirmed Friday that he is now working with a sobriety coach. The job of the coach is to consult with the mayor around the clock.
“I can confirm that a sobriety coach is assisting the mayor as part of his ongoing commitment to his treatment, recovery and living healthy,” Amin Massoudi, the mayor’s press secretary, told CP24 Friday afternoon.
Ford unfazed by polls
In perhaps his most election-minded interview since returning to office earlier this week, Ford vowed to contract out garbage collection west of Yonge Street and phase out streetcars if voters return him to office.
He also reiterated that he’s against adding tolls to major roadways in Toronto to help pay for transit and said he acknowledges that something must be done to fix frequent flooding on the Don Valley Parkway.
“We have to look at something,” Ford said. “We can’t be flooded out every time there’s a major rain storm and flood on the Don Valley.”
Ford also took the opportunity to attack his opponents in the municipal race, shrugging off a poll released today showing that he now sits in third place behind Olivia Chow and John Tory.
“I’ll give credit to Olivia Chow. You can see her coming. Olivia Chow is a left-wing tax and spend NDP,” Ford said.
In a softer moment of the interview, Ford said he knows he’s let down his father, former MPP Doug Ford Sr., who passed away in 2006.
“I know I have let him down but I know what he’s saying up there,” Ford said. “I’m convinced that he’s watching from above me and I’m convinced that things happen for a reason. I’m convinced that he’s the one calling the shots and no one can tell me different.
“I’m not a very religious person,” he continued to say. “Obviously everyone has their own religion, but I do believe in faith and I believe my dad’s watching over me and I’m going to make him proud.”
Ford returned to work Monday after a two-month break to seek treatment for alcohol addiction at a rehab facility in Muskoka.
In a televised speech, the mayor issued an apology for his behaviour, but was criticized for only allowing select media outlets to attend.
In two interviews conducted Wednesday, including one with CP24, Ford admitted to using magic mushrooms and marijuana, in addition to having smoked crack on at least two occasions while in office.
A poll released Friday showed that 60 per cent of Torontonians are not satisfied with Ford’s apology.
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