The war of words between Police Chief Bill Blair and Mayor Rob Ford must end or Torontonians will be the ones who suffer, say several city councillors.
One day after Ford openly challenged Police Chief Bill Blair to arrest him and refused to apologize for a video in which he appears to call Blair a “c*** sucker,” many at city hall were openly calling for a peaceful resolution on Friday and expressing concerns over what will happen should the dispute continue.
“I think it is a problem when the mayor of the City of Toronto cannot get along with the chief of police,” Public Works Chair Denzil Minnan-Wong told reporters at a news conference held to discuss gridlock. “Crime and safety are an important issue to many Torontonians and the fact that there is open conflict between the mayor and the chief of police does not serve the residents well.”
“I think both men will have to resolve this particular matter,” Councillor and Vice-Chair of the Toronto Police Services Board Michael Thompson added. “We can speculate all we want on the issue or we can have an opinion but it doesn’t resolve the matter. Both men must rise to the occasion and demonstrate a sense of professionalism that the residents of Toronto expect.”
Ford’s comments on Thursday came after Blair sat down with several local media outlets, including CP24, and said he was “deeply offended” by Ford’s comments in the now infamous Steak Queen video, calling them “disgusting.”
In the same series of interviews, Blair also revealed that he had advance warning that Coun. Doug Ford would file a complaint about him because Ford-friend Alessandro Lisi indicated it was forthcoming when officers took him into custody on an extortion charge in connection with his alleged efforts to obtain a video believed to show the mayor smoking crack cocaine.
That comment prompted an impromptu scrum from Doug Ford in which he accused Blair of “breaking the law” and said that he was attacking the mayor to discredit him politically. Doug Ford also told reporters that he would be filing another complaint against Blair with the Office of the Independent Police Review Director and would ask the Toronto Police Services Board to have Blair removed from an investigation into the mayor.
Speaking with reporters at city hall Friday, Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly said the conflict between the Ford brothers and Blair is “regretful,” but emphasized that it is not affecting business at city hall.
Premier Kathleen Wynne then echoed Kelly's comments when asked about the escalating conflict between Blair and Ford during a press conference at Queen's Park.
“I have total confidence in the ability of city council to make decisions and function under the leadership now of Deputy Mayor Kelly and I have complete confidence in the chief of police,” she said. “From my perspective what is important is that the city government function and that the safety and protection of the people of the City of Toronto is at the forefront of whatever the police service is doing.”
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