John Tory can't seem to shake off Rob Ford during 1st year in office
Mayor reflects on relationship with predecessor in year-end interview
Toronto Mayor John Tory often says he came to city hall, in part, to replace the politics of Rob Ford.
But the former mayor hasn't gone away. In fact, the man who is now Ward 2 councillor has been a relentless foe during Tory's first year in office.
"I would say he is quite harshly critical of me," Tory said of Coun. Ford in a year-end interview with CBC Toronto's city hall reporter Jamie Strashin. "He has called me a liar. That stuff, to me, is over the top," he added.
"I would have said most people elected to the public office would focus on doing their job and governing ... I think about four minutes after the last [election], he declared he was going to run against me."
Ford was forced out of the mayor's race in September of last year by his cancer diagnosis. But he would not be forced out of city hall.
Instead, Ford ran for his old council seat in Etobicoke and won handily, while his brother Doug stepped into the mayoral election and eventually lost to Tory.
Rob Ford's victory set up an awkward situation at city hall, with a former mayor sitting in the same chamber as his successor, and making no secret of wanting his old job back.
The 61-year-old Tory said he is trying to shrug it all off as no big deal, but the media continues to ask him about Ford.
"I can't say I don't care," he said. "I end up having to answer about him because I'm asked about it."
Tory noted one of the things he is most proud of during his first year in office is how he has changed the tone from the days when Ford was mayor.
And he said people both inside and outside city hall have noticed.
"They were traumatized by what had gone on here before," the mayor said. "Even if they disagree with me on issues, they see the place being more civilized."
After all, the former mayor made international headlines in May of 2013 when news of the so-called crack video broke.
The controversy flared up again when former chief of police Bill Blair announced his own investigators had seen the video of the mayor smoking what appeared to be crack cocaine, after Ford had repeatedly denied it existed.
The scandal culminated in a raucous meeting at city hall, in which Ford was stripped of many of his mayoral powers. That was also the meeting where Ford ran across the chamber and bowled over Coun. Pam McConnell.
But there's one particular act in Tory's first year that he says was memorable, partly because it draws another contrast between him and Ford.
"I took huge pride for being at Pride," Tory said, referring to the annual Pride parade, an event Ford always refused to attend when he was mayor, drawing accusations from many in the city that he was a homophobe.
"I think that meant a lot to the city in a certain way. We were going to try to bring [the city] together," he said.
But Tory said responding to Rob Ford is not what he was elected to do. There are many other councillors at city hall who get a lot less media attention than the former mayor, Tory said.
At the end of the day, Tory said his objective in the council chamber is clear.
"I've got to get 23 votes," he said.
With files from Jamie Strashin