Doug Ford justifies hosting campaign fundraising event for brother in Vaughan

Yorkregion.com
April 8, 2014
By Tim Kelly

There's one thing you can count on when Toronto Mayor Rob Ford comes to Vaughan for his first major campaign fundraiser May 8.

The controversial chief magistrate of Canada’s largest city has done nothing but make news, not only in Toronto and the GTA, but worldwide, since the public heard nearly 11 months ago a video showing the mayor smoking crack was for sale, as reported by the website Gawker and the Toronto Star.

The mayor, after months of denials, finally admitted in a stunning revelation last November he had smoked crack cocaine.

He has since appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, hosted his own YouTube show and been filmed staggering and making obscene remarks in public.

The mayor’s latest antics involve reports of a run-in with security in the hall outside the director’s lounge at a Maple Leafs hockey game he attended Saturday.

In spite of all the ruckus, the mayor, who was stripped of most of his powers and office staff by his council colleagues late last year, soldiers on, determined to defeat his two main challengers, Olivia Chow and John Tory, in the upcoming Oct. 27 election.

Mayor Ford’s brother and campaign manager, Toronto Councillor Doug Ford, promises the May 8 event at the Riviera Parque Conference Centre at Creditstone Road and Hwy. 7 will be a big one.

Asked why, given all the choices the mayor had to have a fundraiser within Toronto’s borders, he chose Vaughan, Doug said the decision was an easy one.

“The contribution list from all the candidates includes investors who invest money in Toronto worth hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars if you add it all up and many of them live outside Toronto. What is good for Toronto is good for the GTA and what is good for the GTA is good for Toronto,” he said.

He got a call from people in Vaughan who wanted to host a fundraiser, he said.

Tickets for the fundraiser are $300 each, with $225 eligible as a tax deduction even for people who live outside Toronto, though ticket purchasers must be Ontario residents.

The April 17 campaign kickoff at the Toronto Congress Centre will be an even bigger event, Rob said.

“It will be the largest ever in Toronto’s history. You will see all kinds of people there,” he said.

Doug also had some words for his brother’s rivals for the mayoralty.

“Rob doesn’t hang out with the champagne-sipping elitists. He’s not like John Tory with Rogers, who has so many conflicts with sitting on so many different boards. Rob stands up to Rogers and Bell and these big corporations who want $10 million in taxpayers’ money for a government loan,”  he said, referencing a recent council vote that will see the city loan Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment $10-million to expand BMO Field. The Fords voted against the motion.

“If you want to talk about character, we’ll talk about character. Rob has more character in his baby toe than John Tory and Olivia Chow put together,” Doug said.