Rob Ford’s Conflict of Interest Case

Your guide to the issues, the judicial decisions, and where things go from here.

Original Decision: Removal from Office

Appeal Decision: Removal Overturned

Video: The Mayor Responds

Ford’s Testimony in Court

Original Decision: Legal Analysis

Context: A History of Formal Complaints

Commentary: Ten Things About Rob Ford

Commentary: Governance in the Age of Ford

• Consensus: Rob Ford’s Remarks Don’t Bring This to a Close May. 24, 2013 5:26 PM - Earlier today Rob Ford broke eight days of silence regarding allegations that he’d been captured on video smoking what appears to be crack cocaine, convening a press conference to address the matter. He read from a prepared statement and took no questions, and as soon as he was done councillors from across the political spectrum [...]
• Rob Ford: “I Do Not Use Crack Cocaine” May. 24, 2013 4:07 PM - Eight days after two outlets, Gawker and the Toronto Star, published reports that they’d viewed a video that shows Toronto’s mayor smoking what appears to be crack cocaine, Rob Ford has finally broken his silence about the allegations. “I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine,” a surprisingly jovial-seeming [...]
• Eight Days at City Hall May. 24, 2013 3:00 PM - On Thursday, May 16, first Gawker and the Toronto Star published reports describing a video that allegedly depicts Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine and making racist and homophobic slurs—allegations the mayor has still not addressed in detail. Here is a recap of perhaps the oddest week in Toronto’s political history: May 16, 8:28 p.m.: [...]
• Doug Holyday: “The Business of the City Will Continue as Usual” May. 24, 2013 10:38 AM - For the second time this week someone other than the mayor held a major press conference in response to allegations that Rob Ford has been captured on video smoking crack cocaine and making racist and homophobic slurs. On Wednesday it was the mayor’s brother Doug Ford (Ward 2, Etobicoke North); today it was deputy mayor [...]
• Mark Towhey Out as Rob Ford’s Chief of Staff May. 23, 2013 2:29 PM - For reasons that are not yet clear, Rob Ford has fired one of his closest advisors, chief of staff Mark Towhey. Reporters who were standing outside the mayor’s office at City Hall this afternoon were surprised to see Towhey departing unexpectedly, escorted by security. As he left he spoke very briefly, saying “I am no [...]
• Mayor Rob Ford Has Been Fired From His High School Football Team May. 22, 2013 3:34 PM - Earlier this afternoon, the Toronto Catholic District School Board announced that Mayor Rob Ford has been fired from his other job: his gig as a part-time volunteer football coach for Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School. The Star points out that the Catholic school board was already in the process of reviewing Ford’s involvement at Don [...]
• Doug Ford on Allegations Rob Ford Smoked Crack: “Never Has a Canadian Politician Been Targeted by the Media This Way” May. 22, 2013 2:42 PM - On Wednesday afternoon, six days after news first broke that two separate publications had reportedly seen video of what appears to be Toronto mayor Rob Ford smoking out of a crack pipe, his brother and city councillor Doug Ford held a press conference to address the allegations. Sort of. In a bizarre, nine-minute appearance in [...]
• Community Group Challenges Toronto’s Star‘s Reporting About “Somali Drug Dealers” May. 22, 2013 11:00 AM - Members of the Canadian Somali Congress have condemned the Toronto Star for repeated references to “Somali drug dealers” in its initial story about mayor Rob Ford’s alleged drug use. The Star‘s first article on the subject originally used the description “Somali” 10 separate times to refer to the men who apparently were involved with Ford [...]
• Mayor Rob Ford Makes The Daily Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live May. 22, 2013 10:15 AM - American late-night hosts who first discovered Rob Ford as a result of some of his more innocent blunders are falling in love with Toronto all over again thanks to the latest allegations against our mayor. Last night, both the The Daily Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live had lengthy segments about Ford, and about the video [...]
• Toronto Casino Well and Thoroughly Dead May. 21, 2013 2:33 PM - City council rejected all proposals for expanded gaming in Toronto today. By a resounding vote of 40–4 they opposed the establishment of any new downtown casino (the dissenters were Rob Ford, Norm Kelly, Vincent Crisanti, and Giorgio Mammoliti). This was widely expected, in the wake of a concerted grassroots campaign opposing a new facility, and [...]
• Toronto’s Casino Debate is Back On May. 17, 2013 5:36 PM - It was only yesterday that Mayor Rob Ford proclaimed proposals for a Toronto casino “dead.” In the wake of the province’s foot-dragging on the issue, and reluctance to commit to giving the city the $100 million Ford thought was a “fair share” of the gambling revenue any new facility would bring in, the mayor abruptly [...]
• Reaction Roundup: Drug Allegations Against Mayor Rob Ford May. 17, 2013 2:12 PM - We don’t know whether he did it or not, but we do know this much: three reporters say they have seen a cell-phone video that appears to show Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack. After the news broke on Gawker Thursday evening, the Twitter reaction was immediate and explosive. The silence in local media, meanwhile, was [...]
• Rob Ford Calls Crack Allegations “Ridiculous” May. 17, 2013 12:29 PM - Toronto mayor Rob Ford is denying allegations that a video seen by reporters at two outlets—Gawker and the Toronto Star—shows him smoking crack cocaine. After brief encounters with reporters outside his home and his office earlier this morning, Ford held a scrum at City Hall at about 12:25 p.m. that lasted no more than a [...]
• What We Do and Do Not Know About Rob Ford and Drug Use May. 17, 2013 3:38 AM - Two publications—the New York-based site Gawker, and the Toronto Star—report that they have seen a video that allegedly shows Toronto mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine. Both say they were approached with the video by a man who was seeking a six-figure sum in exchange for the footage; both report that they did not pay [...]
• Can Rob Ford Respond to Crack Allegations By Suing Media Outlets for Libel? May. 17, 2013 1:40 AM - Given that Gawker has claimed that they have seen a video of Rob Ford smoking crack, and further that Toronto Star reporters have confirmed they saw what seems to be the video weeks ago, and their descriptions of it corroborate Gawker’s story, this is as good a time as any to discuss libel in Canada [...]
• Rob Ford Proclaims Toronto Casino “Dead” May. 16, 2013 4:55 PM - Breaking with just about every precedent of his mayoralty thus far, Rob Ford has decided to call it quits on an issue he’s championed rather than fight it out (and lose) on the floor of the council chamber: today he proclaimed proposals to build a casino in downtown Toronto “dead” and cancelled the special meeting [...]
• The Rob Ford Radio Recap: Mother’s Day May. 13, 2013 4:00 PM - A few days after Toronto’s “greatest day” at council (at least, according to Mayor Rob Ford), will we have the greatest Ford radio show in history? Will we finally solve transit? Or maybe break it for good? Who knows! Find out next. 1:09: Rob opens with a Mother’s Day salute. Moms are awesome, he says, [...]
• The Rob Ford Radio Recap: Free Parking May. 6, 2013 4:45 PM - Sunday was a beautiful day to stay inside and listen to the Ford brothers’ radio show! Actually, it was a terrible day to stay inside and listen to the Ford brothers’ radio show. Hopefully you didn’t, and you’re reading this recap instead. Either way, let’s find out what hi-jinks Rob and Doug got up to. [...]
• Duly Quoted: Rob Ford on Bixi May. 6, 2013 12:46 PM - “It should be dissolved. It’s a failure.” —Toronto mayor Rob Ford speaking to reporters today about the future of bike-sharing program Bixi, which is facing an operating shortfall. Bixi opened in Toronto with some help from the municipal government, which guaranteed the company’s loan. On advice from staff, city council may soon look at renegotiating [...]
• The Rob Ford Radio Recap: Death and Taxes Apr. 29, 2013 3:00 PM - Another week, another transit debacle for the Ford clan. Rob may have won his executive committee vote to prevent city council from discussing taxes and fees for public transit expansion, but he’s losing the media war. Now, he takes to his bunker where he can’t be criticized, so he can plot his next attack. What [...]