Just when it looked like the Rob Ford versus CBC controversy couldn’t get more complicated, its gotten more complicated – way more complicated.
In a highly-unusual move, the city’s top cop, Bill Blair, has waded into the fracas releasing a statement late Friday to say he has listened to the tapes of 9-1-1 calls made by the mayor after an encounter in his driveway earlier this week with a crew from the network’s satirical TV show This Hour Has 22 Minutes.
Blair says in his statement that the CBC, which reported Ford unleashing a stream of profanity during those calls, had “misrepresented” the mayor’s conversations with 9-1-1. The mayor has admitted to dropping a few f-bombs during those calls, and apologized.
But Blair has backed the mayor’s claim that he did not use the word “bitches,” as has been attributed to him in the CBC’s report.
And that the mayor “did not describe himself as the original (CBC) account claimed.” Which is to say, the mayor did not utter the words, “Don’t you fucking know? I’m Rob fucking Ford, the mayor of this city,” according to Blair.
The CBC is sticking to its guns.
In an email response to NOW for comment, CBC spokesperson Chris Ball writes: “We have multiple, credible, well-placed sources within TPS, including a dispatcher. We are reporting what was told to us. This is a developing story and we’re continuing to report on it as it unfolds.”
Instead of putting this baby to rest, Blair may have stirred a hornet’s nest. The chief has left the dangerous perception hanging in the air that political pressure may have been brought to bear here, even if it wasn’t. The chief’s spokesperson, Mark Pugash, did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Blair has no choice now. He must release the tapes, or a transcript of the 911 calls, so the public can have confidence there was no undue interference.
Of course, the chief cannot order the 9-1-1 recordings be made public, because of privacy considerations. Only the mayor can do that and it seems Ford would rather put the whole mess behind them, at least that’s what he said Thursday. His office declined comment Friday on Blair’s statement.
It’s not entirely clear why the chief felt compelled to inject himself into the controversy. There are the stated reasons in his statement, which are (mostly) clear.
Blair admits right off the top of his statement that “it is not my practice to comment on 9-1-1 calls.” But then he goes on to state, somewhat incomprehensibly as his main rationale for doing so that the Ford controversy “may have created confusion with the public about whether to call 9-1-1 or not. Public safety is too important. I cannot allow that to happen.”
The chief also states that he felt it “necessary to set the record straight.” The chief says “there have been no complaints by any members of the TPS about the 9-1-1 conversations.” He question, too, the CBC’s claim that its information came from several anonymous police sources.
The final chapter may not have been written on this one yet, but no doubt the Blair turn will give Ford friendlies in the media the ammo to spin this story as vindication of the mayor. A few of his allies with Sun Media have been on a campaign to have federal funding from the CBC removed, weaving dark conspiracies stories about secret CBC “war rooms” targeting conservatives. (Yeah, I know, Ezra Levant is flakier than a box of Corn Flakes).
But let’s not lose sight of the bigger picture – namely, the lies the mayor told to create the pretense for his call to the police in the first place after the encounter in his drive with the This Hour crew.
It’s not clear from the video evidence of his encounter with the This Hour crew why the mayor had to call the cops. The mayor’s story on that front has changed again and again. First it was too dark and he couldn’t see who was coming at him. (It was 8:30 in the morning). Then that he was afraid for his daughter’s safety. (His daughter was inside).
Maybe it was the trans thing that freaked the mayor out. He talked about “a man dressed as a woman” while in a scrum with reporters Thursday.
His office continued to spin despite the video evidence putting the lie to his version of events even after his 9-1-1 conversations were made public and reporters tracked the mayor down reprising his role as football coach (on the taxpayer’s dime) in the wilds of Etobicoke Thursday.
The official statement released on the incident by the mayor’s office states that Walsh “trespassed” on the mayor’s property and that she “refused to leave when asked.”
Only, the video evidence shows Ford clearly smiling when he’s confronted by Walsh, before getting in his van and then deciding to get out and head back inside his house. At no time does he ask Walsh to leave his driveway in the video, which she would have been compelled to, or face the prospect of formal charges.
In fact, the mayor’s own statement says the 22 Minutes crew left while Ford was inside calling 911. No wait. They didn’t simply leave, they “fled.”
The statement takes further liberties with its description of the incident. It describes the mayor as being “attacked” in his driveway, when clearly no one was trying to injure or kill the mayor.
The preponderance of evidence, as they say in court, points to one inescapable conclusion: the mayor’s “frustration” in his 9-1-1 calls seems to stem more from the fact the cops didn’t respond to his calls to 9-1-1 fast enough, than the incident with the CBC crew.
Maybe chief Blair should be investigating why the mayor thinks he deserves special treatment, protection from costumed comedians, with all the other priorities the police are dealing with on a daily basis. The plot thickens.
