Mayor Rob Ford was back at city hall on Monday and again facing questions about his past drug use after a weekend reprieve.
The mayor returned to city hall at around noon after attending a Remembrance Day ceremony at Old City Hall.
Ford did not speak with reporters as he entered the building, but he was heard telling a supporter that he was “not going anywhere” as he left the Remembrance Day ceremony earlier in the day.
It could be a trying week for the mayor as council gets set to debate two motions on Wednesday – one intended to limit Ford’s powers and the other intended to pressure him to take a leave of absence.
As he left city hall at around 3 p.m. Monday, Ford simply said “bring it on” when asked about the motions, one of which the mayor has made one of his key items for Wednesday’s council meeting.
The motions were tabled in the wake of Ford’s unexpected admission that he has used crack cocaine while in office. That admission came nearly a week after Toronto police Chief Bill Blair announced that officers have recovered a video that is believed to show Ford smoking from a glass pipe.
Ford has so far refused to speak with police investigating the activities of a close personal friend of his, who has been charged with extortion for his alleged efforts to recover that video.
“I think it is critically important that council speaks as one voice to say that what he has done is wrong, that he should be going to the police and cooperating, that he should be apologizing and that he should take a leave of absence and remove himself from council while he gets the help he needs,” former Ford ally Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong told reporters at city hall Monday afternoon. “He needs to let the city move forward and not be distracted by any of the future information that might be coming out.”
Ford has repeatedly denied having a drug or alcohol addiction, though his lawyer did tell The Associated Press last Friday that he is “considering “ his options, including possible treatment.
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