The most controversial mayoralty in Toronto’s history is coming to an end.
Rob Ford has dropped out of the mayor’s race, and his brother Doug Ford has registered to run in his place. Instead of seeking re-election for the city’s top job, the mayor will now try to regain his former council seat in Ward 2 Etobicoke North, even as he battles a serious health crisis.
To make way for the mayor in Ward 2, the Fords’ nephew Michael has taken his name off the ballot in the council contest there, and is now registered to run for Toronto District School Board trustee in Ward 1 instead.
The last-minute switch-up in the mayoral contest comes after the shock diagnosis earlier this week of a tumour in Mayor Ford’s abdomen. He remains at Mount Sinai Hospital Friday undergoing further tests, and results of a biopsy are expected next week.
The sensational shuffle of the three Ford candidates had been rumoured for days but wasn’t set in motion until just over an hour before the deadline for nominations closed at 2 p.m. Friday. At around 12:50 p.m. the mayor’s campaign spokesperson Jeff Silverstein came to the City Hall elections office to file the necessary paper work, but at least some of the forms weren’t properly notarized.
The mayor’s office had to dispatch Councillor Peter Leon to Mount Sinai to witness the mayor’s signature, and the switch wasn’t offically finalized until moments before the deadline, when Doug came into the office himself to sign the forms.
Leon said it was his impression the decision to substitute Doug into the mayor’s race “was made very quickly, on a last minute basis.”
In a statement issued at 1:30 p.m., the mayor confirmed he was dropping out, declaring that he could be facing “a battle of my lifetime” and was “unable to commit to the heavy schedule required for a mayoral candidate.”
“My heart is heavy when I tell you that I’m unable to continue my campaign for re-election,” he said.
Even in his final message as a candidate, the mayor stayed true to form, repeating his famous catchphrase. “I derailed the gravy train,” he said. “I’ve asked Doug to finish what we started together, so that all we’ve accomplished isn’t washed away.”
In a pair of speeches made Friday afternoon, the two other leading mayoral candidates offered starkly contrasting reactions to shake-up in the campaign.
Speaking to reporters at her midtown headquarters, Olivia Chow chose not to criticize her new challenger, saying “today really is not my day to comment on Doug Ford as a candidate.”
“It can’t be an easy day for him, so I will refrain from commenting on him as a candidate until later on,” she said.
Chow, who was polling third in the race before the mayor dropped out, recalled that when her husband Jack Layton died in 2011 Rob Ford was “very, very supportive.” She wished him “a speedy recovery so he can be out on the doorsteps in Ward 2” soon.
At his office at Wellesley and Bay, frontrunner John Tory also wished the mayor well and acknowledged that dropping out must have been “the most difficult decision that he’s ever had to make in his whole life.”
But Tory refused to pull any punches when it came to Doug. He blasted the councillor for alienating his colleagues and the leaders of the provincial government over the course of this term, and accused him of being “insensitive to a number of our communities,” including the families of children in an Etobicoke group home for kids with autism.
In what sounded like an early attempt at a campaign attack line, Tory said this council term has been characterized by “division” and “chaos” at City Hall, and Doug offers “more of the same and maybe worse.”
Rob Ford’s withdrawal draws a line under a sensationally tumultuous mayoralty beset by wave after wave of scandal, including the admission to smoking crack cocaine that made him infamous around the world.
It’s also a huge blow for a politician who seemed to enjoy the thrill of campaigning more than the messy work of governing. Ford registered for re-election on January 2, the day nominations opened, but he unofficially declared the campaign was on long before that, following the defeat of his transit plans in February 2012.
That he has decided to drop out is likely an indication that the Fords believe the health crisis he’s facing is severe.
Despite his health troubles, the mayor has an excellent chance of being elected in Ward 2, an area where he served as councillor from 2000 to 2010 and remains immensely popular. Doug Ford took the election there four years ago by a landslide, largely on the strength of his brother’s reputation.
Throughout this term Doug has exerted tremendous behind-the-scenes influence on the administration and has frequently spoke on the mayor’s behalf. He’s now been pushed to the fore despite previously announcing plans to return to the private sector and run the family label business. Prior to the mayor’s diagnosis this week, he was not seeking re-election in his council ward.
Although the pair’s political careers are closely intertwined, Doug does not enjoy the cult of popularity that his brother does, and his more abrasive personality may prove less palatable to voters. More often than not, when trying to do damage control for his brother this term he merely exacerbated controversies with his quick temper and propensity to drop offensive sound bites.
Despite ending his re-election bid, Rob Ford is still Toronto’s mayor and could remain so until the current term ends on November 30. If he decides to step down and focus on his health however, his powers will be transferred to Deputy Mayor Kelly.
Council already gave Kelly most of the mayor’s responsibilities in November after Ford admitted to smoking crack.
Statement From Mayor Rob Ford – Sept 12 2014
