Mayor Rob Ford created more controversy for himself Wednesday when he refused to get out of his seat as his city council colleagues gave a standing ovation to salute the efforts of WorldPride organizers.
While councillors faced the gallery and applauded WorldPride representatives who were attending Wednesday’s council session, Ford sat in his chair as he clapped his hands.
Ford has not yet provided an explanation for why he did not stand up at the meeting but assured reporters Wednesday afternoon that he is not homophobic.
"You guys have asked me this question for 14 years, and you know the answer. I’m not homophobic," he said.
When a reporter asked if the mayor's legs were too tired to stand up, Ford replied "Is your mouth a little tired? It never stops."
Doug Ford was quick to jump to his brother's defence Wednesday, saying that the mayor has voted in favour of providing the parade with funding in the past. He said the mayor also attended the Pride flag-raising event last year.
"Not only did he do that... but we made a donation, and that was part of Rob's donation, to the gay Pride parade but you don't want to report that," Doug Ford said.
The standing ovation kicked off with a presentation on the weeklong WorldPride festivities that wrapped up with a massive parade June 29.
City manager Joe Pennachetti discussed some of the event highlights and thanked everyone who made it happen.
Pennachetti was followed by Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly, who expressed his appreciation and singled out Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam, an openly gay member of council who helped organize the event, before he asked council and city staff to applaud all of the organizers as a way of saying thank you.
Kelly attended WorldPride festivities while he was Toronto’s acting mayor in Ford’s absence. Ford, who has never attended a Pride parade as an elected official, returned to work June 30 – the day after the parade – after taking a two-month leave of absence. While he was away, Ford spent time in a rehab facility north of Toronto to get treatment for substance abuse.
Throughout his time as mayor, Ford has been frequently criticized for skipping almost all events involving Toronto’s LGBT community, including the annual Pride parade. Ford also reportedly made homophobic remarks while he was videotaped smoking from a glass pipe more than a year ago. That video has not been viewed by the general public but sparked a police probe into the mayor.
During her address to council, Wong-Tam acknowledged Kelly and thanked him for his help with WorldPride.
“Without his unwavering support of the community and all the endeavours none of this would have been possible,” Wong-Tam said. “He has been a wonderful champion and a wonderful partner for us to have worked with.”
This year’s WorldPride festivities were the first to be held in North America. Pennachetti said city staff are still calculating the event’s financial impact on the city.
Ford apologizes for robocalls:
At Wednesday's meeting, the city's integrity commissioner asked that mayor Ford apologize to coun. Paul Ainslie for sending out robocalls to residents in the councillor’s ward last Thanksgiving.
The robocalls, which condemned Ainslie's decision to vote against the Scarborough subway extension, is considered to be a code of conduct violation.
"I want to apologize to coun. Ainslie for informing his constituents through a robocall that he voted against subways," Ford said in council chambers Wednesday.
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