Mayor spoke with councillors to advance Rob Ford stadium plan, but denies links to Doug Ford talks

Mayor acknowledges talking to councillors about renaming Etobicoke facility after her infamous predecessor, but said it was a "coincidence" the issue came up during talks with the premier about fixing Toronto's finances.

Thestar.com
Dec. 13, 2023
Ben Spurr and David Rider

Mayor Olivia Chow acknowledged speaking to councillors about a plan to rename an Etobicoke stadium after Rob Ford -- but says her support has nothing to do with Premier Doug Ford agreeing to help fix the city's finances.

At an unrelated press conference on Tuesday, Chow said Coun. Paul Ainslie (Scarborough-Guildwood) approached her in "early November" about honouring the polarizing former mayor whose term was mired by a crack cocaine scandal before his 2016 cancer death.

According to Chow, Ainslie told her "the premier wants to name the Centennial Stadium after his brother," and she said she would back the idea, which her predecessor John Tory brought to city council in 2017 only to see it shot down by a majority of councillors, including Ainslie.

He doesn't appear to be the only councillor to have had a change of heart, according to Star interviews that suggest that Ainslie's renaming motion has a good shot at being added to this week's city council agenda and passing with the support of former Ford allies, plus Chow and members close to her.

At the time of her conversation with Ainslie early last month, Chow and city officials were in the midst of high-stakes negotiations with the Ontario Progressive Conservative government over urgently need help with Toronto's budget crisis. On Nov. 27, those talks concluded with what the mayor described as a "historic" agreement that will deliver up to $9 billion in financial relief to the city.

While acknowledging she was informed of the premier's renewed push to honour Rob Ford while those negotiations were ongoing, Chow said on Tuesday that the proposal never came up in talks with the province and she rejected the idea the two issues are related. 

"Let me set the record straight. The naming of this stadium has nothing to do with the new deal. At no point during any of the discussions (for) a new deal had the question about the stadium been raised. I just want to be very clear. It's just a coincidence that Coun. Ainslie" brought forward the idea when he did, the mayor said.

Chow said that after speaking to Ainslie, she reached out to Coun. Stephen Holyday, whose Etobicoke Centre ward includes the stadium, to ask if he supported the renaming. Although he did, "there was a question of whether Coun. Ainslie was going to move it or Coun. Holyday would move it and I believe my office supported whoever was interested in moving it," at city council, Chow said.

Rob Ford was, for a decade, a conservative Etobicoke North councillor known for solving constituents' problems, his love of coaching high school football and a drunken outburst at a Toronto Maple Leafs game. His 2010-2014 mayoralty made world headlines as he denied and later admitted smoking crack with gang members. Although he eventually received treatment for addiction, Ford sparked a host of other controversies including for misogynistic and racist remarks.

Chow, a former NDP MP, said she supports the stadium renaming because she empathizes with the Ford family.

"I know the pain that people feel when they lose a loved one," said the mayor, whose husband, former federal NDP leader Jack Layton, died in 2011. Layton was a seatmate and friend of Rob Ford who in 2012 supported the renaming of Toronto's ferry docks in honour of Layton.

Ainslie told the Star he and Ford had talked about honouring Rob "for a while ... since early in the year when Tory resigned." The Fords "hoped whoever was the new mayor would do something," he said. "Time has passed," Ainslie said, noting that many past mayors have their names on pieces of Toronto. He said the discussions with the premier were not tied to budget aid for Toronto.

In an interview, Holyday confirmed that the mayor consulted him about the proposal several weeks ago, and on Nov. 30 her office sent him a draft of the motion.

Holyday said Chow's office asked whether, as the local councillor, he wanted to introduce the motion at council, but he declined because he hadn't written it himself. The staffer who sent it said city officials had helped with the wording.

The councillor said there was no indication from Chow or her office that renaming the stadium was linked to the new deal. "Nothing in my conversation with mayor would have connected the two," he said. 

At the Nov. 27 press conference announcing the deal, the premier gave "special thank yous" to Ainslie and budget chief Coun. Shelley Carroll for the "support" and "guidance" they had given him and the mayor. Neither councillor had a direct role in the negotiations. Carroll seconded Ainslie's council motion proposing the renaming.

The premier's spokesperson Caitlin Clark said Tuesday that Ford thanked the pair because they "supported the plan for a new deal from the very start and continued to help advance talks in the background."Renaming the stadium is not part of the new deal. It’s not in the term sheet and was never discussed during negotiations. It’s very common for a city to honour a former mayor by dedicating a public space to them," Clark said.

Coun. Brad Bradford (Beaches-East York) said it's not believable that Chow's support for putting the late Ford's name on the stadium isn't related to negotiations with the province, even if it didn't come up during official talks.

"Reasonable people will draw reasonable conclusions," he said.

Ainslie's motion requires the support of two-thirds of council to get on the agenda for the meeting that starts Wednesday, and if that happens a majority vote to make a Rob Ford stadium a reality.

Councillors who now say they'll support the renaming, but voted against it in 2017, include Ainslie, Carroll, Gord Perks and Michael Thompson. Others poised to support the renaming include Mike Colle, Jennifer McKelvie and Frances Nunziata.

McKelvie said: "We sat beside each other on the (conservation authority) board, he was always kind to me. His love for Toronto was unwavering."

Josh Matlow was the only councillor who vowed to vote against the renaming to respond to the Star's inquiries.

"I can think of many people, all of whom who haven’t been dishonest, misogynist, homophobic or caught smoking crack with gang members and disgraced our city, who would be more deserving, " Matlow said last week when the proposal was revealed.

The midtown councillor said this week he will vote whichever way seems certain to ensure the renaming does not proceed.