Updated: Doug Ford claims police used an airplane to spy on the mayor (but he’s totally not worried about it)
The newest Ford family revelations—which happen to involve Doug Ford flipping the bird at small aircraft—lift the Rob Ford crack scandal story to new heights of absurdity, if that’s even possible. The ongoing saga’s latest chapter kicked off Friday, when several papers reported police used a rented Cessna to watch the Ford camp while investigating (alleged!) attempts to track down the (alleged!) crack video. Although neither the police nor the mayor would comment, councillor Dougie sounded almost blasé when recounting the tale to the Toronto Sun:
“Oh yeah...It was really loud and flying right over. My mom (Diane) called me and said there is a plane buzzing the house.” [...] “It was circling around and around,” said the Ward 2, Etobicoke North councillor about the mid-August incident. “The plane was coming down so low I thought they were going to land in the pool.” Angry at the danger of it, Ford said, “I stood there and gave them the finger.”
Following that heroic gesture, Doug called two police superintendents in his circle, who said the plane was part of a bust at the airport. The councillor wasn’t convinced—“you know when a plane is surveilling you”—but told the Sun that he and his brother were not worried about their police watchers. That sounds like classic Ford bluster, but, then again, if a photo of Ford with drug dealers in front of a crack den can’t derail the mayoralty, what damage can a few aerial pics really do?
UPDATE: When the National Post followed up with Doug yesterday, he backed off his claims that the police were behind the plane. “I was mistaken. I’m not too sure who it was, to be frank with you,” he said, suggesting that the media could have been responsible. Either way, he’s still not concerned: “Anyone could follow me, I don’t care.”
• Cops using Cessna to spy on mayor’s family: Doug Ford [Toronto Sun] • Rob Ford shrugs off questions about friend’s arrest as news of air surveillance of mayor by police emerges [Toronto Star] • Police used air surveillance as part of investigation of Mayor Rob Ford associates [Globe and Mail]
