After a heated debate Wednesday in which some councillors accused Mayor Rob Ford of “cronyism” after his list of his preferred candidates for positions on several boards and agencies surfaced, the mayor could again find himself under fire today as a three-day meeting wraps up.
Council is expected to consider a report from the city’s integrity commissioner that criticized Ford and his councillor brother Doug for disparaging comments they made about the city’s chief medical officer of health in April.
Appearing on their radio show after Medical Officer of Health David McKeown released a report that suggested lowering speed limits to improve public safety, Rob Ford called McKeown’s $294,302 salary an “embarrassment” and Doug Ford questioned why McKeown even had a job.
Both brothers did apologize after Integrity Commissioner Janet Leiper released her report suggesting they had violated council’s code of conduct, but Leiper said an apology letter from Rob Ford wasn’t an apology at all in a follow-up report and requested that council formally reprimand him.
“The features of the letter create an overall impression of someone who is blaming others and minimizing his own behavior,” the report states. “It does not connect the retraction to the specific conduct. There is no sincere expression of regret.”
In his apology letter Ford misspelled McKeown’s name and reiterated his belief that the chief medical officer of health had overstepped his boundaries by conducting a $60,000 study on speed limits.
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