TORONTO—Mayor Rob Ford faced a court full of media Wednesday to defend himself against allegations of violating conflict-of-interest rules.
Paul Magder hired high-profile attorney Clayton Ruby to bring the case to trial in an effort to have the mayor ejected from office and possibly banned from running again for seven years.
Media lined up in front of the University Avenue court house’s front entrance and side doors on Wednesday morning expecting Ford, who entered through the side doors and arrived in the packed court room, solemn and serious, at five minutes to 10 a.m. His brother, city councillor Doug Ford, sat right behind him.
Ruby said the issue at hand is not Ford’s football foundation, but his breach of the Municipal Conflict-of-Interest Act. “It’s the integrity, not his money, that’s an issue,” said Ruby.
Magder has alleged Ford breached the Municipal Conflict-of-Interest Act when he voted on a motion to not be forced to pay back lobbyists who donated to his Rob Ford Football Foundation.
Justice Charles Hackland listened to lawyers from both sides question the mayor over two hours.
Ford told the court he was not aware of aspects of the Conflict-of-Interest Act relating to the case, and that he didn’t think there was any conflict so he didn’t consult with the city’s integrity commissioner whether there could be a breach of the act.
When questioned by Ruby and asked to read multiple sections from the Act out loud, Ford said he didn’t know prior to the court hearing that any matter that directly or indirectly financially benefited himself or the city was a conflict issue.
“For 12 years I have always considered ... if the city benefits or the mayor in council benefits, then you have a conflict of interest,” Ford explained.
“I’ve never had a problem with conflict of interest before,” he said.
At the beginning of the hearing, Ford’s attorney, Alan Lenczner, noted that Ford is open about declaring conflicts and has previously filed nine cases, indicating that Ford can recognize a conflict of interest when he sees one.
Ruby said Ford should have suspected a conflict sooner or later as Ford planned to speak about his foundation at a meeting before the members of council and on February 7, 2012, explaining how his foundation is making a big positive impact in high-risk communities.
In 2010, the council pressed for the donation to be returned. The city’s integrity commissioner said Ford solicited donations of $3,150 from 11 companies inappropriately and Ford was asked to pay the lobbyists back.
“I was going to pay it back but they didn’t want it,” Ford said. He explained that four or five of the lobbyists said they didn’t want the donations back while the rest didn’t reply.
Ford also said if someone in council advised him that there was a conflict of interest at the time, he would have responded to it and dealt with it, but no one said anything.
If Ford loses the case, he will lose his job and might also be banned from running for mayor for the next seven years.
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