A Toronto Star reporter says a public apology from Mayor Rob Ford was not “sufficient” enough for him to reconsider a defamation lawsuit he filed against the mayor last week.
Daniel Dale posted the comment to Twitter Tuesday afternoon, several hours after Ford read a prepared statement at city hall, apologizing to Dale if his words “caused him any harm or personal offence.”
“I didn't ask for an ‘I apologize if.’ I asked for an ‘I apologize because I said false, damaging, and unfounded things, and here they are.’ So: while I appreciate the mayor's first step, no dad or teacher would accept that apology as sufficient,” Dale wrote. “I would appreciate another try.”
In the interview with Black that was broadcast on Vision TV on Dec. 9, Ford recalled a confrontation with Dale outside his home in May 2012.
The confrontation occurred after Ford’s neighbour told him that someone was peering over his fence and taking pictures. Dale, who was looking at a piece of land adjacent to the mayor’s Etobicoke home for a story he was writing, has said he never went anywhere near the mayor’s fence.
Police who had investigated the matter later said they never found any evidence on Dale’s phone that he took photos of the mayor’s property.
“When a guy is taking pictures of little kids, I don’t want to say that word but you start thinking, 'what’s that guy all about',” Ford told Black during the interview.
Ford had previously defended the comments he made during the interview, but on Tuesday he clarified his remarks and apologized to Dale directly in front of council.
“I did not mean to insinuate anything about Mr. Dale personally in my interview with Mr. Black and I certainly did not mean to suggest that he was a pedophile. I was merely commenting on the thoughts that went through my mind before I had any idea that the person my neighbour told me he saw peering over the fence was a reporter on assignment from the Toronto Star,” Ford said as he read from a prepared statement. “I want to sincerely apologize to Mr. Dale if my actual words have caused him any harm or personal offence and if Mr. Dale is here I want to personally apologize to him.”
Dale’s libel notice that was filed on Dec. 12 called on Ford to immediately retract his insinuations and comments about his conduct on the day in question. It also called on the mayor and Vision TV to apologize “publicly, abjectly, unreservedly and completely.”
On Monday, after not hearing from Ford, Dale confirmed that he planned to push ahead with his legal action.
“In his ‘apology,’ the mayor didn't retract anything at all. Instead, he blamed the media for its reasonable interpretation of his words. And, crucially, he didn't retract or specifically apologize for the categorically false, malicious, and in-itself-defamatory claim about me taking pictures of his young kids,” Dale wrote on Twitter. “He also blamed his neighbour. He used the words ‘lurking’ and ‘leering.’”
If Dale does in fact proceed with his lawsuit, he will have three months to file a statement of claim.
Asked about the potential legal battle at city hall Tuesday afternoon, Ford had no comment.
“I can’t comment on that. Talk to Gavin Tighe,” he said, referring to his civil lawyer.
Ford said he never actually saw Dale peering over fence
Ford has previously said that he caught Dale standing on cinder blocks and peering over his fence, but on Tuesday Ford told council that he never “personally saw Mr. Dale peering over his fence or taking pictures.”
He then added that his wrath is more for the Toronto Star than Dale himself.
“I have no issue with Mr. Dale personally. I understand that he is an employee in the very competitive news business and must do as his superiors instruct him,” he said. “I do take issues with his bosses at the Toronto Star who put him and I into this situation. I did not mean to insinuate anything about him personally.”
A number of Ford’s colleagues on council have criticized him for the remark about Dale.
Speaking with CP24 following Ford’s apology, Coun. Shelley Carroll said she was pleased to see the remark finally retracted but she added that she would have like to see the mayor take further responsibility and admit that his comment was harmful.
“I am happy for Daniel Dale that the mayor was so clear that he didn’t mean to insinuate that he was a pedophile but again we have a qualifying of the apology,” she said. “The word if negates the apology. We need this mayor to say I admit I did something wrong here. He has really hurt someone here.”
Ford has so far refused to answer questions from reporters about why he chose to apologize to Dale after repeatedly saying that he had no plans to do so.
His councillor brother, however, did tell CP24 that it is time to move on.
“Rob has apologized, we are moving forward and if the Toronto Star wants to move forward they can and if they don’t so be it,” Doug Ford said Tuesday afternoon.
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