City council rejected a proposed downtown casino for the city and expansion at Woodbine Racetrack Tuesday.

Mayor Rob Ford called the issue “dead” last week at an impromptu news conference and cancelled a special meeting to consider the proposal, which was later reinstated by a group of councillors.

After debating the issue, council voted 40-4 against the proposal.

The mayor tried to convince council to allow expansion of gaming at Woodbine, but that motion was also defeated 31-13.

Coun. Mike Layton says he and his colleagues voted against a casino after hearing from constituents.

“The people of Toronto have spoken here. Councillors were being pressured by their constituents, by the people of Toronto to vote no.”

“I think that’s why you see that 40-4 vote at the end of day with council sending a strong note to the province: we don’t want casino expansion in the city of Toronto.”

Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti says the city just blew a chance to make money and now it will have to raise taxes.

“That’s what happened today. I think it’s a shame. I think it’s a concerted effort by some councillors to hijack council.”

During the debate, Ford accused Premier Kathleen Wynne of being opposed to a Toronto casino and the jobs it would bring.

“I don’t know why the premier does not support 10,000 good-paying, union jobs,” he said.

“No deal is good enough for this premier. Fact is, she simply doesn’t want a casino — at least not in Toronto.”

Ford slammed Wynne, accusing her of sabotaging casino plans by offering an Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. hosting fee of $39-million a year versus the $100-million the city wanted.

“It’s becoming crystal clear that this will never happen under the leadership of premier Wynne.”

But Wynne said she’s maintained from the beginning that every municipality should be treated the same when it comes to revenue sharing from casinos.

The decision to host a casino is “rightly in the hands of municipalities,” she said.

“I don’t think this is a personal debate between me and any other politician in the province,” Wynne said.

“I think this is about a principle — which is, municipalities should be able to make this decision.”

Wynne asked OLG to revise their funding formula in March after reports surfaced it was offering a special deal to Toronto that would see the city collect $100 million in hosting fees.

But the government’s refusal to divulge the formula last week sparked an angry Ford to denounce the Liberals for spoiling plans for a casino.

Wynne fired OLG chairman Paul Godfrey later that day, prompting the entire board of directors to resign.

Godfrey has said he wasn’t given a reason for his dismissal, but Wynne told him the government was “going in a different direction.”

Wynne said Tuesday that there were “critical” points of divergence.

They included the “fairness” of a casino formula to ensure Toronto didn’t get a special deal, she said. They also differed on the integration of the horse-racing industry — which was devastated after OLG ended the slots-at-racetracks program — into the corporation’s modernization strategy.

As for the video allegedly showing the mayor using drugs, Ford refused to talk about it.

680News reporter Kevin Misener and CityNews reporter Cynthia Mulligan were at City Hall covering the story. Read a re-cap of their live tweets below:

But he didn’t keep quiet when it came to a controversial proposal to build a casino in the city.

When the mayor stood to speak during a special council meeting on the matter, many hoped he would address the latest scandal to plague his tenure.

Instead, he delivered a six-minute speech on the casino issue, then left the room without taking questions.

Earlier, Ford ignored a crush of reporters waiting outside his city hall office on the chance he might comment on the alleged video.

It was unclear whether the mayor planned to discuss the allegations later in the day, as many allies and rivals have urged him to do.

Ford’s silence over the long weekend did not quiet the controversy after the Toronto Star and the U.S.-based website Gawker.com reported staff had separately viewed cellphone footage which they said appears to show Ford smoking crack.

On Friday, Ford slammed the Toronto Star report on the video as a smear job and called it “ridiculous,” while his lawyer Dennis Morris called the reports “false and defamatory.”

Morris told The Canadian Press on Sunday that he had not received any instructions from Ford about launching legal action against the Star and Gawker, saying the matter was in “pause” until it’s known whether a video will become public.

The media outlets reported the video was shown to them by an alleged drug dealer who has been reportedly trying to sell it for at least $100,000.

Gawker has been trying to crowdsource $200,000 to buy and publicly post the footage and had raised $84,839 by early Tuesday.

Queen’s University Professor Monica LaBarge said Ford should come out and directly say whether the alleged drug use the video reportedly appears to show is true – something she says Ford could have used this week’s edition of his Toronto talk radio show to do.

“If there’s nothing there then you should be able to say, ‘No I have never done this and this is all fictional,’ whereas quite clearly that has not come out as an answer,” LaBarge said Sunday.

She said that in previous scandals either Ford, his spokesman or brother Coun. Doug Ford have flatly denied allegations of misbehaviour, such as a Toronto Star report in March alleging the mayor was removed from a military gala for being intoxicated.

But this time Ford and those who speak for him do not appear to have nailed down a strategy to handle the drug-use allegations swirling around the purported video, LaBarge said.

“For whatever reason it doesn’t seem like they have a plan. So whether this video is true and the story is true or not, it seems like they’re scrambling a bit,” she said.

The Toronto Star and the U.S.-based website Gawker.com reported the story Thursday night. Two reporters from the Star and the editor of Gawker said they viewed the cellphone video and said it appears to show Rob Ford smoking crack.

The media outlets reported the video was shown to them by an alleged drug dealer who has been reportedly trying to sell the video for at least $100,000.

Ford on Friday slammed the Toronto Star report on the video as a smear job and called it “ridiculous,” while his lawyer Dennis Morris has called the reports “false and defamatory.”

Morris has also told the Toronto Star it was impossible to tell what a person was smoking by watching a video.

Doug Ford on Saturday told Vancouver radio station CKNW that he planned to respond to the story about his brother on Tuesday. He added had “never seen my brother around crack cocaine – ever, in my entire life.”

He made a similar comment to Toronto radio station Newstalk 1010 – which hosts the Ford show.

But LaBarge said Rob Ford – and not his brother – should publicly state whether he has used the drug, and that not doing so only further fuels speculation about whether the video allegations are true.

Newstalk 1010 has said they expect the Ford brothers to be back hosting their show next week.

The Toronto Star has stood by its story and rejected any suggestions the paper was out to get the mayor.

Meanwhile, Gawker is trying to raise $200,000 from the public, which it says it needs in order to buy and post the alleged footage.

By Monday morning it had raised more than $73,000 toward its goal.

Toronto Coun. Josh Matlow has told The Canadian Press that regardless of whether there is a video of Ford and whether it ever surfaces, in the meantime the city’s public image is taking a beating due to the mayor not giving a full explanation.

“If he chooses not to then I think speculation will only increase and the harm to our city’s reputation internationally will get worse.”

Another councillor, Frank Di Giorgio, said in his view the mayor’s influence over council “will remain unaltered” until all the facts of the video become available.

The announcement comes after allegations of videotaped drug use surfaced on Thursday, however the station would not say if the cancelled show has anything to do with those allegations.

Ford has called the allegations “absolutely not true,” while Doug Ford, talking about the incident for the first time, said he had never seen his brother around cocaine in his entire life.

Journalists at the Toronto Star reported Thursday they have seen a video that appears to show Ford using drugs.

In its report, the Star said two of its reporters had watched the video on May 3 and that it showed an intoxicated Ford in a room, sitting in a chair, and lighting and smoking from what appeared to be a glass crack pipe.

The Toronto Star said, however, it had no way to verify the video.

U.S.-based gossip website Gawker.com said Thursday night that the video is being shopped around by a group of Somali men allegedly involved in the drug trade.
680News has not seen the video and has not been able to verify its authenticity.

Gawker has launched an online fundraising campaign to purchase the video through the website Indiegogo. Gawker said if they raise $200,000, they will publish the video online.

As of 8:30 p.m. Friday they had raised over $34,000, but by Saturday morning, that number had climbed to $44,956, with another group posting a similar plea.

The pace had appeared to slow by Sunday, with $63,000 raised.

A Toronto-based group, meanwhile, had raised $2,448 to buy the tape.

CFRB program director Mike Bendixen has tweeted that Ford and his brother Doug won’t be behind the mikes this Sunday for their two-hour talk show “The City” on the Toronto station.

Bendixen says the Ford brothers told the station on Friday the show would not go ahead as scheduled.

Rob Ford has slammed a Toronto Star report on the video as a smear job, although neither he nor his lawyer have called the video fake.

The U.S.-based website Gawker.com reported the story Thursday night, with its editor saying he had seen a cellphone video taken by a drug dealer that purportedly showed Ford smoking crack.

Gawker is trying to crowdsource $200,000 which it says it needs to buy the video footage to post on the gossip-news site. By Saturday morning it had raised $50,000 towards its goal.

Both the Toronto Star and Gawker have said the drug dealer — reached through an intermediary — had shown the video to them.

The two publications offered separate but similar accounts of the dealer shopping the video around for at least $100,000.

In its report, the Star said two of its reporters had watched the video on May 3 that it said showed an intoxicated Ford in a room, sitting in a chair, and lighting and smoking from what appeared to be a glass crack pipe.

The publications reported Ford could be heard making crude remarks about Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and the high school football team the mayor coaches.

The Star has stood by its story and rejected any suggestions the paper was out to get the mayor.

Ford’s lawyer Dennis Morris called the reports “false and defamatory.” But Morris also told the newspaper it was impossible to tell what a person was smoking by watching the video.

Toronto police spokesman Mark Pugash said Friday investigators were “monitoring the situation closely.”

The Indiegogo campaign had raised $50,000 of its $200,000 target as of Saturday afternoon. Gawker says if they raise enough money they will purchase the alleged video and post it online.

They say if they are unable to do so all the money will be donated to drug addiction treatment.

]]> http://www.680news.com/2013/05/18/would-you-donate-to-gawkers-fund-to-buy-alleged-ford-video/feed/ 15 http://www.680news.com/2013/05/17/gawker-uses-crowdfunding-to-try-to-purchase-alleged-ford-video/ http://www.680news.com/2013/05/17/gawker-uses-crowdfunding-to-try-to-purchase-alleged-ford-video/#comments Fri, 17 May 2013 23:24:58 -0400 Christine Chubb, CityNews 1418455 U.S. based gossip website Gawker.com is hoping crowdfunding will help them raise money to purchase a video that allegedly shows Mayor Rob Ford using drugs. Through the website Indigogo they are attempting to raise $200,000 which they say ...

Councillor Mike Layton refueled the debate on a casino in Toronto after Rob Ford cancelled the meeting Thursday. Layton collected the names of the majority of Councillors on a petition to have the casino debate continue.

“According to the by-law, the letter is submitted or the request is submitted to the clerk and the clerk then sends out notice to the councillors, as is what happened when the mayor called this same meeting at the same time off. That’s the process,” Layton explained.

Ford cancelled Tuesday’s special council meeting on the casino item because he didn’t get the $100M commitment from the province for hosting a casino.

According to Ford the debate is over.

In recent years, that has escalated to a series of controversies – both proven and alleged.

Here, a look at some of Ford’s more controversial moments:

February 1999: Ford, then 29, is charged with marijuana possession and driving under the influence while on vacation in Florida. The marijuana charge is later dropped.  While campaigning for office in 2010, Ford lies about the Florida charge, saying was charged with failing to provide a breath test.

April 2006: Ford, now a councillor, got drunk at a Leaf game and began spouting a range of obscenities at those sitting near him. He initially denied even being there, but later came clean, apologizing for his behaviour and admitting he was “both embarrassed and humiliated by the whole series of events.”

June 2006:  Ford votes against AIDS funding, saying “If you are not doing needles and you are not gay, you wouldn’t get AIDS probably, that’s bottom line.”

March 5, 2008: During a city hall debate, Ford says: “Those Oriental people work like dogs. They work their hearts out. They are workers non-stop. They sleep beside their machines.”  He refused to apologize, saying he was paying the community a compliment.

June 2010: On a taped phone call, Ford can be heard offering to buy prescription drugs for a constituent. Ford admitted he offered to help an HIV-positive man find OxyContin illegally, but says he was playing along “just to get him off the phone.”

July 2011: Ford is accused of using his cellphone while driving and then giving the middle finger to the woman who chastised him. He denied giving the woman the finger.

October 2011: Ford is accused again of using his cellphone while driving.

October 25, 2011: Ford calls police on a comedy crew from This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Comedian Mary Walsh, who was dressed as her alter ego Marg, Warrior Princess, and a cameraman were at his home. The CBC reported that Ford later yelled obscenities at a 911 operator. Toronto police chief Bill Blair denied Ford had made the comments.

December 2011: The Toronto Star reports that police had been called to his Etobicoke home after his mother-in-law called 911 on Christmas morning. There were claims he had been drinking and threatened to take his children to Florida without his wife.

May 2, 2012: Ford calls police after seeing a Toronto Star reporter near his home. Reporter Daniel Dale said he was not trespassing, and, in fact, the mayor threatened him.

August 2012: Ford, who has been accused of distracted driving, is photographed reading while on the Gardiner.  Ford admitted to reading briefing notes, saying he was a busy man.

February 7, 2012: Ford participates in a council vote on whether he should have to pay back donations he received from lobbyists, triggering a conflict-of-interest lawsuit.

November 26, 2012: A judge rules that Ford violated the Municipal Elections Act and orders Ford removed from office. He appeals and his later reinstated.

February 1, 2013: After a forensic audit of his campaign spending, Ford is found to have overspent by $40,100. However, a city hall committee decided not to send the issue to a special prosecutor.

March 8, 2013: Mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson says Ford made inappropriate comments and grabbed her ass at a gala for the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee. Ford denies the allegations.

March 27, 2013: A report in the Toronto Star alleges that Ford is asked to leave the Garrison Ball because he appeared impaired.

May 16, 2013: Reporters at The Toronto Star and Gawker publish allegations they have seen a video that appears to show Ford using drugs.

Outside his Etobicoke home on Friday morning, Ford spoke to a group of waiting reporters, saying “Absolutely not true…it’s ridiculous.”

He then shook his head, got into his vehicle and drove away.

On Friday, reporters at The Toronto Star said they have seen a video that appears to show Ford using drugs.

In its report, the Star said two of its reporters had watched the video on May 3 that it said showed an intoxicated Ford in a room, sitting in a chair, and lighting and smoking from what appeared to be a glass crack pipe.

U.S-based gossip website Gawker.com said Thursday night that the video is being shopped around by a group of men allegedly involved in the drug trade.

The Toronto Star said, however, it had no way to verify the video.

Deputy mayor Doug Holyday said he does not believe the shocking published reports.

“Videos can be altered and drug dealers can’t be trusted. I don’t know what we’re dealing with here and until we do I don’t really have much to say,” Holyday said at city hall Friday.

“I have not seen any indication of him using any substances like this or anything else for that matter,” he later added.

It’s just the latest in a series of scandals plaguing Ford’s administration that have distracted from issues like public transit, the expansion of Porter airlines and a now-quashed downtown casino.

In March, the Star reported that Ford was asked to leave the Garrison Ball at the Liberty Grand at Exhibition Place because he appeared to be impaired. Earlier that month, former mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson alleged Ford made inappropriate comments towards her and then grabbed her buttocks – both of which Ford adamantly denies.

Meanwhile, Holyday also told reporters Friday morning that he believes the mayor is fit for the job but, “if these accusations were substantiated, that would change a lot of things.”

“I have no knowledge, I have not seen any indication of him using any substances like this or anything else for that matter,” Holyday said.

The Star said Friday it had seen the tape on May 3 but the paper waited to publish the story.

The Star said two of its reporters watched the video and said it appears to show Ford in a room, sitting in a chair and using drugs.

The Star also alleges Ford makes several disparaging and crude remarks about Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and the high school football team he coaches.

A lawyer retained by Ford, Dennis Morris, told the newspaper that Thursday’s publication by the Gawker website of some details related to the video were “false and defamatory.”

Holyday was also asked whether he thinks these recent allegations will hurt the city’s reputation.

“It certainly isn’t helpful [to the city's reputation]. Whether you can blame the mayor or not depends on whether the story is true. I don’t know that and I don’t know that many of you do,” he said.

“There’s a large contingent of political people that want the mayor out of office. They don’t want him to make the changes that he’s been making. I agree with the changes that he’s been making and the agenda he’s put forward.”

Attempts by 680News to contact the mayor and his staff for comment on the allegations were unsuccessful.

With files from The Canadian Press