Police Chief Bill Blair serves Doug Ford with a notice of defamation

The Globe reports that police Chief Bill Blair has made good on his threat to pursue legal action against Doug Ford. On Monday night, the soon-to-be-ex chief had his lawyers serve the Ward 2 councillor with a notice of defamation. The notice demands a full retraction of a statement Ford made to reporters after news of Rob Ford’s impending subpoena leaked to the press. The gist of Doug’s allegation was that Blair was responsible for the leak, and that it was somehow “payback.” (For what? He wouldn’t say.) A notice of defamation is a preliminary step towards a lawsuit. Things won’t necessarily escalate if Doug follows his brother’s example and apologizes publicly and at length.