Crazy Town: The Rob Ford Story

by Robyn Doolittle

  pg. 27 “We thought Doug had two left feet”: Interview with Patricia Herriott, September 7, 2013.

  pg. 28 Doug Sr. became president, Clarence Campbell became vice-president: Toronto City Directory, 1967, Part 1 (Toronto Reference Library).

  pg. 28 Kathy ran the administrative side: Interview with Gary Moody, October 15, 2013.

  pg. 29 Deco employed about forty-five people: Patrick McConnell, “Businessman Wins Humber Tory Nomination,” Etobicoke Life, February 22, 1995.

  pg. 29 clearing millions of dollars in annual sales: A 1994/1995Toronto City Directory put estimated sales at between one million and ten million dollars and the number of employees at thirty-eight.

  pg. 29 a story told in the weekly Etobicoke Life: Patrick McConnell, “Businessman Wins Humber Tory Nomination,” Etobicoke Life, February 22, 1995.

  pg. 30 Robert Bruce, weighing in at nine pounds, one ounce: Birth announcement, Toronto Star, May 31, 1969.

  pg. 31 By the early 1980s, they were appearing in the society pages: Greg McArthur and Shannon Kari, “Globe Investigation: The Ford Family’s History with Drug Dealing,” The Globe and Mail, May 25, 2013.

  pg. 31 Doug Ford Sr. was a founding member of the Rexdale Rotary Club … first CT scan machine: Tamara Shephard, “Community Mourns Loss of Former MPP Doug Ford,” Toronto Star, September 26, 2006.

  pg. 32 Between 1981 and 1987, he was twice found guilty of theft and assault: Court documents showing charges and sentencing information from Toronto, Brampton, Cobourg, and Newmarket.

  pg. 32 the Globe ran a four-thousand-word investigation: Greg McArthur and Shannon Kari, “Globe Investigation: The Ford Family’s History with Drug Dealing,” The Globe and Mail, May 25, 2013.

  pg. 33 “Three Etobicoke men have been charged”: “Charges Laid in $5,000 Extortion Bid After Man Held for 10 Hours,” Toronto Star, December 12, 1986.

  pg. 34 “an outright lie”: Ann Hui and Amber Daugherty, “Doug Ford Disputes Globe Report on Family History with Drug Dealing,” The Globe and Mail, May 25, 2013.

  pg. 34 “sleazy journalism … is that the best The Globe and Mail has?”: Jackson Proskow, “Doug Ford Denies Drug Trade Allegations,” Global News, May 25, 2013. See http://globalnews.ca/news/589636/doug-ford-calls-drug-trade-allegations-sleazy-journalism.

  pg. 35 “If you want to go calling”: Bill Weir, “Reporter’s Notebook: In the Heart of Ford Nation with Toronto’s Embattled Mayor,” CNN, November 18, 2013. See www.cnn.com/2013/11/18/world/weir-reporters-notebook.

  pg. 35 I reached out to hundreds of the Fords’ former classmates: The overwhelming majority of these calls were made by my research assistant, Simon Bredin. All quotes that appear in the book are a result of interviews I either conducted or fact-checked with the source. These include interviews with Mark Stenoff, Bill Gianakopoulos, Dave Miteff, David Profitt, and Laura Biernat, July–August 2013.

  pg. 36 The caption on the team photo that year: Scarlett Heights Collegiate yearbook, 1985.

  pg. 37 “quiet stoner”: This is according to two former associates of Fabio Basso, interviewed June 7, 2013, and August 30, 2013. One of them attended Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School and the other attended Scarlett Heights Collegiate. The direct quote is from the June interview.

  pg. 37 “I know it might sound strange now ... but Robbie was a little guy”: Marci McDonald, “The Weirdest Mayoralty Ever: The Inside Story of Rob Ford’s City Hall,” Toronto Life, May 15, 2012.

  pg. 38 but he dabbled in cocaine as well: In an interview with Peter Mansbridge, the mayor said, “When I was younger, I experimented with drugs,” after being asked whether he’d ever used cocaine, as opposed to crack cocaine, before. Peter Mansbridge, “Rob Ford Interview with Peter Mansbridge: 7 Key Points,” CBC, November 19, 2013.

  CHAPTER 3: THE CANADIAN KENNEDYS

  pg. 45 “Somehow or another he was jostled”: Michael Friscolanti, “Councillor’s Sister Shot by Accident, Police Say,” National Post, April 4, 2005.

  pg. 45 The shotgun wasn’t Scott MacIntyre’s: Her Majesty the Queen v. Scott MacIntyre, Ontario Court of Justice, June 6, 2005. Official court transcript.

  pg. 45 It belonged to Doug Ford Sr., an avid collector: Interview with member of the extended Ford family and a close associate of the Fords, May 2013.

  pg. 46 “The greatest economist I ever met in my whole life was my mother”: Legislative Debates (Hansard), Office of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, March 4, 1997. See www.ontla.on.ca/web/house-proceedings/house_detail.do?Date=1997-03-04&Parl=36&Sess=1&locale=en#P46_10805.

  pg. 47 “It was ‘Fords,’ plural”: Interview with John Tory, August 23, 2013.

  pg. 48 Officer Timothy Marks: Interview with Marks in Miami, July 17, 2013. Officer Marks does not remember arresting Rob Ford. I reconstructed the night’s events based on detailed arrest paperwork, including the arrest affidavit; police department property receipt; operation procedures checklist; breath test result affidavit; Miranda warning waiver; traffic citation; affidavit of refusal to submit to breath, urine, or blood test; breath sample result; City of Miami Police Department DUI test report; and the police citation. What Marks said to Ford is not recorded in the documentation. Here, I rely on standard operating procedures, which Marks said he would have followed exactly, given that he was new to the force at the time of the arrest.

  pg. 50 “I admit maybe I had”: Amy Dempsey, “‘Go Ahead Take Me to Jail,’ Rob Ford Told Police,” Toronto Star, August 19, 2010. For the “couple of bottles” quote I relied on Kelly Grant, “Ford’s Drunk Driving Conviction Could Steer His Campaign Into the Ditch,” The Globe and Mail, August 19, 2010.

  pg. 51 A February 2011 Toronto Life feature: Jan Wong, “The Woman Behind the Mayor: Who Is Renata Ford?” Toronto Life, February 3, 2011.

  pg. 52 worked as a cabinetmaker: According to Ontario divorce records for Renata Brejniak and Artur Kisicki, February 1996.

  pg. 52 In July 2005 … Renata was arrested for impaired driving: According to court documents.

  pg. 53 Conservative nominee in Etobicoke North, Sam Basra: After Basra’s failed federal campaign, he put his name on the ballot for a seat as a Toronto District School Board trustee in the 1997 fall municipal election. He withdrew before the election but ran again in 2000 and won. Following a string of legal problems involving his use of a series of different names—Sam Basran, Sam Basra, Sam Singh Basra, and Santokh Singh—an election rule violation, and his role as an immigration consultant, Basra served sixteen months of house arrest and paid a thirty-five-thousand-dollar fine. He resigned from the school board in 2002 before he could be removed.

  pg. 53 Things got bad in late 2003: Information obtained from Ontario court documents.

  pg. 53 “pry bar and knife”: Information obtained from Ontario court documents.

  pg. 53 In 2008, Kathy was arrested for stealing toothbrushes: Information obtained from Ontario court documents.

  pg. 54 It began at 7:30 A.M. on January 11, 2012: All information and quotes about this incident comes from two official court transcripts: Her Majesty the Queen v. Scott MacIntyre, 2201 Finch Avenue West court, May 28, 2012, and June 13, 2012.

  pg. 57 his “best buddy … steer it back on course … Doug was never a soldier”: Cynthia Reason, “Remembering Douglas Ford as the Community Man,” Etobicoke Guardian, October 3, 2006.

  CHAPTER 4: COUNCILLOR FORD TO SPEAK

  pg. 59 The Harris government was making aggressive changes: Thomas Walkom, “The Winds of Change: The Hard Part of Any Revolution, Including a Common Sense One, Is Following Through,” Toronto Star, December 27, 1996.

  pg. 59 “If we are to fix the problems”: From introduction to “The Common Sense Revolution” platform booklet, May 3, 1994.

  pg. 60 opposition ranging from 65 to 81 percent: Murray Campbell et al., “Metro Voters Reject Amalgamation: Harris Told to Leave Toronto Alone Amid Signs Opponents to Conservative Plan Smell Blood,” The Globe and Mail, March 3, 1997.

  pg. 60 five of the six munici
palities took the province to court: Gail Swainson, “Megacity Hearings Were Held ‘Too Late’: Premier Also ‘Trampled’ on Rights, Court Told,” Toronto Star, July 7, 1997.

  pg. 60 cut nearly in half to fifty-seven: The first city council of the new megacity had fifty-six councillors plus a mayor. But during the first term, due to quorum problems, council ran a by-election for another seat in East York, making a total of fifty-eight positions on council. This information courtesy Wynna Brown, a manager in strategic communications with the City of Toronto, October 7, 2013.

  pg. 60 “I remember hearing [Ford] was really ticked off ”: Interview with Gloria Lindsay Luby, August 2013.

  pg. 61 “We’re both business people”: Interview with Mario Giansante, September 2013.

  pg. 62 Flynn came in third: Dennis Flynn died in August 2003.

  pg. 62 “Oh, no, no, Robbie’s a career politician”: Ted Herriott’s recollection of a conversation he had with Diane Ford after the 1997 election, as told to me on September 7, 2013.

  pg. 63 If both of us ran, we knew we didn’t have a good chance”: Interview with Mario Giansante, September 2013.

  pg. 64 The Star called Ford’s bid “a bit of a long-shot”: Bruce DeMara, “Political Heavyweights Getting Ready to Rumble: City Election Promises Plenty of Exciting Duels,” Toronto Star, October 13, 2000.

  pg. 64 “Rob Ford actually coached my son’s football team”: Interview with Elizabeth Brown, August 2013.

  pg. 64 “strongest sign campaign in the city”: Bruce DeMara, “Time of the Signs Begins Busily: Candidates Rush Off the Mark as Lawn-Ad Ban Ends,” Toronto Star, October 19, 2000.

  pg. 65 Those close to him say he is aware that he comes across as boorish, a clumsy speaker: Interviews with two former mayoral staff members and a 2010 campaign strategist.

  pg. 66 “We don’t have a revenue problem”: Royson James, “Budget Faces a Long and Whining Road,” Toronto Star, January 28, 2001.

  pg. 66 “If Councillor Bussin ever wants to go out”: Don Wanagas, “Business Card Squabble Dwarfs Crisis: Councillors Bicker Over Minutiae While City Goes Broke,” National Post, February 6, 2001.

  pg. 66 “We have to start today cutting back”: Royson James, “Tory Sales Pitch Guarantees Us a Budget Battle,” Toronto Star, January 30, 2001.

  pg. 67 “What are the four words”: Don Wanagas, “The Odd Rantings of Young Rob Ford,” National Post, March 9, 2001. Wanagas would go on to become director of communications for Mayor David Miller, who was staunchly progressive.

  pg. 68 “Homelessness is a cancer”: Vanessa Lu and Bruce DeMara, “Shelters to Be Distributed,” Toronto Star, February 12, 2003.

  pg. 68 “You slithering snake”: Video of city council budget debate, February 2003. Currently available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOi2wIUCTnA.

  pg. 68 “waste of skin”: Paul Moloney and John Spears, “Councillors Square Off in Verbal Slugfest,” Toronto Star, July 19, 2005.

  pg. 68 “Roads are built for buses”: “City Councillors on the Budget,” Toronto Star, March 7, 2007.

  pg. 69 “You’re not helping them, you’re enabling them”: James Cowan, “Help Will Kill Addicts: Ford,” National Post, October 17, 2005.

  pg. 69 “I don’t understand: is it a guy dressed up like a girl”: “Transsexual or Transgender? Councillor Confused by Specifics,” The Globe and Mail, June 17, 2005.

  pg. 69 “absolutely disgusting”: James Wallace, “$5,000 Grant for Gay Video Gets Councillors’ Backs Up,” National Post, June 12, 2001.

  pg. 69 “Gino boy”: Bruce DeMara, “Alleged Slur Sparks Latest Council Spat,” Toronto Star, March 6, 2002.

  pg. 69 “I believe in Adam and Eve”: “Tete-A-Tete,” Toronto Star, July 25, 2003.

  pg. 69 “If you’re not doing needles”: “Rob Ford on AIDS,” National Post, June 28, 2006.

  pg. 69 “Those Oriental people work like dogs”: Donovan Vincent, “City Hall Protesters Target Ford Remarks,” Toronto Star, March 15, 2008; and Jeff Gray, “Ford Draws Rebuke, Saying ‘Oriental’ People Are ‘Taking Over,’” The Globe and Mail, March 5, 2008.

  pg. 70 reprimanded half a dozen times: In November 2007, Ford was rapped for refusing to disclose his office budget (he refused because he was paying out of his own pocket). In December 2007, Ford was told not to include the official Toronto logo on an invitation to his family’s annual backyard barbecue. In February 2009, Ford erroneously accused Councillor Adam Vaughan of trying to get a campaign donor appointed to a city committee. In August 2009, Ford revealed that the city had spent $750,000 on a piece of property before the deal was finalized. In August 2010, Ford was warned against using city resources to solicit donations for his private football charity. At the same time, he was slammed for “improper use of influence” after asking active city lobbyists to donate to his charity.

  pg. 70 “I get criticized a lot, because from September and October”: Ed Keenan, “Coach Ford’s Absenteeism,” The Grid, September 11, 2012.

  pg. 71 The chemistry on the team “wasn’t great” to begin with: Robert Cribb and Kristin Rushowy, “Teacher Asked Ford to Leave,” Toronto Star, July 15, 2010.

  pg. 71 came “from gangs” and “broken homes”: Daniel Dale, “Mayor Rob Ford Dismissed as Don Bosco Football Coach,” Toronto Star, May 22, 2013.

  pg. 72 Ford was soliciting donations from eleven active lobbyist firms: “Report on Violation of Code of Conduct, CC52.1,” Toronto Integrity Commissioner Janet Leiper, August 12, 2010. See www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2010/cc/bgrd/CC52.1.pdf.

  pg. 73 “With Rob, they would call”: Interview with former staffer in Ford’s Ward 2 council office, September 8, 2013.

  pg. 74 “But it was like they wouldn’t accept our answer”: Interview with Councillor Karen Stintz, August 2013.

  pg. 75 “no compelling reason”: “Report on Involvement of Members in Matters Arising in Other Members’ Wards,” Toronto Integrity Commissioner David Mullan, September 12, 2005.

  pg. 75 “I don’t understand how you can be communicating”: Paul Moloney, “Spend Big … Spend Little,” Toronto Star, August 18, 2001. (Councillor David Shiner had spent $9,142 of his office budget by the six-month mark.)

  pg. 76 “The Sun and the Star made him … grandstanding about it”: Interview with Doug Holyday, August 14, 2013.

  pg. 76 “You know what?”: Jim Byers and Donovan Vincent, “Frugality Probe Goes Ahead,” Toronto Star, May 25, 2007.

  pg. 76 “That’s so a councillor can’t spend a small fortune”: Paul Moloney, “Auditor Says Councillor Must Disclose Expenses,” Toronto Star, November 20, 2007.

  pg. 77 “Even then, I thought that the general public would say”: Interview with Sandra Bussin, September 9, 2013.

  pg. 77 “torrent of verbal abuse”: Donovan Vincent and Robyn Doolittle, “Lawyer Defends Ford’s Actions,” Toronto Star, March 28, 2008.

  pg. 78 “Now that there is nothing funny”: John Barber, “It’s So Awful You Can’t Look Away,” The Globe and Mail, March 31, 2008.

  pg. 78 Brejniak just said she was “okay”: Donovan Vincent and Robyn Doolittle, “Lawyer Defends Ford’s Actions,” Toronto Star, March 28, 2008.

  pg. 78 “no comment”: John Barber, “It’s So Awful You Can’t Look Away,” The Globe and Mail, March 31, 2008. Also Jeff Gray and Timothy Appleby, “Ford Called Police Night Before Arrest,” The Globe and Mail, March 27, 2008.

  pg. 78 “I’m just glad”: Dale Anne Freed, “Ford Cleared on Charges,” Toronto Star, May 22, 2008.

  pg. 79 “rather large gentleman … asinine comments”: From Dan and Rebecca Hope’s letter to Toronto’s city clerk. The couple entitled it “A Rare Night Out.”

  pg. 80 “This is unbelievable”: Paul Moloney and Vanessa Lu, “Arena Outburst Probed by City,” Toronto Star, May 2, 2006.

  pg. 80 “Completely embarrassed”: Paul Moloney, “I’m Here Facing the Music Today,” Toronto Star, May 3, 2006.

  pg. 81 “I was the laughingstock … Hail Mary passes get caught”: Bill Dunphy, “A
spiring Mayor Hopes to Have the Last Laugh,” The Hamilton Spectator, March 25, 2004.

  pg. 82 had been elected three years earlier: At the time of amalgamation, elections were held every three years. After the 2006 race, the term was extended to four years.

  CHAPTER 5: THE GRAVY TRAIN

  pg. 84 “Hey, buddy, nice to meet you”: Interview with Nick Kouvalis, August 2013.

  pg. 88 “Rob won for all sorts of reasons”: Interview with Stefano Pileggi, August 23, 2013.

  pg. 90 Ward 2 Etobicoke North, which had about 55,000 residents: According to the 2006 census, the population of Ward 2 Etobicoke North was 54,780. See www.toronto.ca/wards2000/pdf/2006/ward2_2006profiles.pdf.

  pg. 91 population of about 111,000: According to the 2006 census. See www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/prof/92-595/P2C.cfm?TPL=RETR&LANG=E&GC=35022.

  pg. 91 “You’re being ridiculous”: Interview with member of Ford’s mayoral campaign team, July 2013.

  pg. 93 “troubled” by evidence: “Tory Campaign Manager Acquitted of Threatening MP Jeff Watson,” The Windsor Star, January 25, 2007.

  pg. 94 He trained his fire on business executive Rocco Rossi: David Rider, “Would-Be Mayors in War of Words,” Toronto Star, March 30, 2010.

  pg. 94 “You said, on the floor of council”: Video of Toronto Real Estate Board debate uploaded to George Smitherman’s YouTube channel, May 7, 2010. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dTDFJUp86M.

  pg. 95 Ontario’s auditor general, Jim McCarter, had released a damaging report: “Special Report: Ontario’s Electronic Health Records Initiative,” Office of the Auditor General of Ontario, October 2009.

  pg. 95 Not enough of the right kind of information: From “Special Report: Ontario’s Electronic Health Records Initiative,” Office of the Auditor General of Ontario, October 2009, p. 8: “There is no doubt that Ontario does not yet have an eHealth system that is meeting the needs of medical practitioners or the public … our main concern is that the network remains significantly underutilized because as yet there is insufficient health-related information on it.” The electronic records scandal dates back to 2002 with the creation of the Smart Systems for Health Agency. It was replaced in 2008—months after George Smitherman was moved out of the health minister position—by eHealth Ontario.