His mother in tears. His city councillors demanding his resignation. His whereabouts unknown.
Rob Ford submitted a formal notice Thursday to the city clerk that he is taking a personal leave from his duties as mayor of Toronto after acknowledging he is seeking help for alcoholism.
“No dates were indicated,” Jackie DeSouza, director of the city’s strategic communications, said of the mayor’s absence. Ford promised “further updates to his status.”
RAW VIDEO: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was driven away from his Etobicoke home early May 1, 2014.
Not good enough: he should resign, many city councillors said Thursday morning.
In a public statement released late Wednesday night, Ford said he has decided to take a break from his re-election campaign and from his mayoral duties to seek “immediate help.”
He left his Etobicoke home Thursday morning offering no comment to waiting reporters about revelations of a new crack video, of a lewd and crude audio tape and of two wild nights involving booze, drugs and Justin Bieber at a Toronto nightclub.
His tearful mother said at mid-morning she finally had to admit to herself her son’s problems went far beyond his weight, as she had said in a TV interview months ago.
“I guess I have to. I had no idea it was as serious as it was. He doesn’t live with me,” she told CP24.
She asked the media “to leave him alone. Leave us alone.”
Toronto police Det. Sgt. Gary Giroux says the investigation of the mayor he leads, Project Brazen 2, is still alive and they would like to see the new alleged crack video.
Mayoralty candidate Olivia Chow says she is angry and embarrassed by Mayor Rob Ford's offensive comments about women, including those about rival Karen Stintz.
“It is long past time we has a mayor who respected the dignity of everyone on our city,” Chow said reading a statement in her Yonge Street campaign headquarters.
“It’s obvious that Mr. Ford is a sick man.” She hopes he gets treatment but “as mayor, it’s too late. He has had his chance.”
Fellow mayoral candidate John Tory said Wednesday night: “For the good of the city, I call on Mayor Ford to resign.”
Mayoral candidate Karen Stinz, a target of Ford’s crudest comments in the bar tape, said at a mid-morning news conference: “Rob Ford is not Toronto. We need to move forward.”
She also said if Ford was truly sorry, he would have apologized to her last night, which he did not. She was “shocked and embarrassed” by his comments about her.
“This has been a distraction for a long time,” Premier Kathleen Wynne said this morning after a jog. “I’ve been dealing with Deputy Mayor (Norm) Kelly since he was given decision-making authority by the city.”
City councillors on their way to work had much to say about the new revelations.
“Go and never come back. Things have gone too far,” Councillor John Parker said.
“There are things in this tape that the people of this city can’t live with in their mayor, drunk or sober,” city Councillor Shelley Carroll declared Thursday morning at City Hall.
“I’m a sloppy version of me when I drink. I don’t become racist. I don’t become a misogynist or a homophobe,” Carroll said.
Councillor Joe Mihevic described the mayor as “a man that is really struggling with major addictions and needs help (and) to take responsibility for his behaviour.”
Mihevic said, “So what we need I think as Torontonians to do is to rally behind the call, ‘It’s time to leave. It’s time to move on, Mayor Ford.”
“I think it’s time for the mayor to leave. 30 days doesn’t cut it,” said Councillor Janet Davis. “I don’t believe he can recover from the disgrace that he has brought on himself and the City of Toronto.”
“To me, he’s self-destructing,” said Councillor Paula Fletcher. “He could have killed someone” while drinking and driving.”
“He has to step down. He has to take his name off the ballot,” Councillor Jaye Robinson said on Twitter.
Long-time Ford ally Giorgio Mammoliti said he told the mayor “It’s about time you recognized your demons.”
Mammoliti said he quit the executive committee because of Ford’s substance abuse and tried to get him help. If Ford doesn’t come back, Mammoliti says, he may run for mayor himself.
Under the City of Toronto Act, the deputy mayor acts as mayor when the mayor is absent from the city or absent because of illness, or when the office of the mayor is vacant.
But the situation is complicated by the fact that city council has already voted to transfer the bulk of the mayor’s powers and office budget to Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly, DeSouza said.
Council made the move last November after Ford admitted smoking crack but repeatedly denied having a problem or needing treatment.
The clerk will meet Thursday with the city legal department to work out details of the transition of the remaining power and duties to Kelly and advise councillors as soon as possible, she said.
With files from Daniel Dale and Paul Moloney
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