Reaction Roundup: the eight essential quotes about Rob Ford’s jailhouse beatdown accusations
The latest bombshell in the Rob Ford crack scandal dropped on Wednesday afternoon, when Scott MacIntyre, the mayor’s former brother-in-law, served him with a statement of claim in the middle of budget proceedings at city hall. The accusation: the mayor of Toronto orchestrated a jailhouse beating of MacIntyre as a means of keeping him quiet about Ford’s alleged drug use and associations with known criminals. After so many intense scandals, Toronto’s city councillors and commentators seem weary—benumbed by the cascading series of revelations. Here, eight key quotes from notable Torontonians.
“It’s just ongoing, you know? What are you going to do? You just got to focus on saving taxpayers money. And I work out. And I’m going to Vancouver this weekend.” —Mayor Rob Ford, on American talk radio show The Sports Junkies
“It’s a planned attack meant to shame Ford and it’s another drop in the bucket of baseless allegations.” —Dennis Morris, Rob Ford’s defence attorney
“Budget? What budget?" —
Mark Towhey, Rob Ford’s former chief of staff
“There is a point at which you get into diminishing marginal rates of return. One more story on top of all the stories that already exist has an increasingly minor impact. It’s just déjà vu all over again, isn’t it?” —Councillor John Parker
“Our attention is being diverted by, ‘What the heck is going on?’ You can’t help but whisper amongst yourselves to say, ‘What’s happening out there?’...It is very shocking what’s been happening, and God knows, there may be more to come.” —Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby
“Nothing could surprise me at this point, but I haven’t read anything about it. It sounds like it’s a matter that will be up to the courts.” —Councillor Mike Layton
“[Ford] is a crazy person who hangs out with other crazy people and does crazy things. I’m not going to sit here and try to explain it, because it’s impossible to be rational about. He’s the worst mayor the city has ever had...What’s the difference between Rob Ford and Justin Bieber? Justin Bieber shoots and cuts his own videos.” —Councillor Adam Vaughan
“This is a situation that is in front of the legal system.” —Premier Kathleen Wynne, refusing to discuss the recent Rob Ford allegations
(Images: Ford: Christopher Drost; Wynne: Facebook; Vaughan: BriYYZ; Thowhey: Twitter; Morris: CTV/screengrab; all others: city of Toronto)
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