POLL: What do you think of Rob Ford’s apology?
The most embattled mayor in Toronto’s history has finally said he’s sorry—well, sort of. Yesterday, a sombre-sounding Rob Ford opened his weekly radio show with some contrite words:
Friends, I am the first one to admit, I am not perfect. I have made mistakes. I have made mistakes, and all I can do right now is apologize for the mistakes. I sincerely, sincerely apologize to my family, to the citizens to the taxpayers of this great city and to my colleagues on Toronto city council. Unfortunately, I cannot change the past. I can just move forward and learn from the past, which I assure you I am doing. [...] There’s no one to blame but myself, and I take full responsibility for it.
Later, the mayor got more specific about his misdeeds, citing his public displays of drunkenness at Taste of the Danforth this year and on St. Patrick’s Day 2012. “If you’re going to have a couple of drinks, you stay at home and that’s it, you don’t make a public spectacle of yourself.” (While Ford claimed he will “make changes” in his life, he also said it is “not realistic” for him to stop drinking entirely.)
The mea culpa contained a few notable omissions: Ford didn’t make any reference to drug use, didn’t say what substance he may have been smoking in the infamous video, and didn’t explain his many odd meetings with Sandro Lisi. (Nor, of course, did he offer to resign.) He did, however, finally cave and promise to hire a driver. Hopefully, he’ll choose a better candidate this time.
[poll]
NEVER MISS A TORONTO LIFE STORY
Sign up for This City, our free newsletter about everything that matters right now in Toronto politics, sports, business, culture, society and more.
