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Rob Ford crack allegations resurface |

Toronto police chief
announces investigators
have elusive crack video

Patrick
] Vailancourt
§ News Editor
Fe) news@theotherpress.ca

he Toronto Police Service

has confirmed that it is now
in possession of a “digital video
file,” which is said to show
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford at
an Etobicoke house, showing
images that are allegedly
consistent with previous reports
on Ford's activities—a reference
to the allegations that Ford was
filmed smoking crack cocaine.

Toronto Police Chief Bill
Blair said at a press conference
that he was “disappointed,”
after announcing that his officers
were now investigating the
contents of the video.

Reports of the video being
in police possession came as a
shock to residents of Canada’s
largest city, and occurred on the
same day of the arrest of Ford’s
occasional driver and friend
Alexander Lisi, who is charged
with attempting to retrieve a
video of Ford through extortion.

Several persistent reports
suggest that Lisi, in addition to
being Ford’s occasional driver,

also procured drugs for the
Toronto mayor.

Earlier this year, a source
tipped off the Toronto Star and
Gawker.com about having
a damning video of Mayor
Ford smoking crack cocaine.
The reporters met with the
video's owner in Toronto
and were shown the video.
Reporters were convinced of its
authenticity, but were met with
the demand for a hefty payment
to purchase the video. Gawker
successfully raised the $200,000
to purchase the video, but when

Toronto Mayor Rob Fard | Photo courtesy of www.shedoesthecity.com

the money had been raised,
the video and its owner had
mysteriously disappeared.
Chief Blair’s press
conference has revived the
nationwide debate about
the mayor’s capacity to lead
Toronto’s 2.8-million people.
All four of Toronto’s major
newspapers have called on the
mayor to resign—including the
Toronto Sun, formerly one of
Ford’s supporters.
In response to media
questions about the video, the
mayor said that he has no plans

  

to step aside. “I have no reason
to resign,” said Ford.

Ford added that he is
unable to comment on the video
because “it’s before the courts
right now.” The video, however,
is currently in police custody,
and there is no provision
preventing the mayor from
commenting publicly on the
video.

It is a change of tune in the
embattled mayor’s version of
events: in May, he repeatedly
told residents and reporters that
he could not comment on “a

video I haven't seen or does not
exist.”

Ford’s brother, Toronto
City Councillor Doug Ford, has
called for the Toronto Police
Service to release the video to
the public to allow residents to
make their own conclusions.

Toronto Police spokesperson
Mark Pugash has asserted that
the police must turn evidence
over to the courts, and the
courts “have the authority to
decide whether that should
be released...” He continued,
stating that, “I know that media
lawyers are already working
on that process to get the video
released.”

Dennis Morris, Ford’s
lawyer, has been particularly
critical of police Chief Bill Blair
for comments he made at the
press conference, specifically
the comment about him being
personally “disappointed.”

“{Chief Blair] has a duty to
report news in a dispassionate
fashion,” said Morris, adding
that Blair should immediately
make the video public.

Toronto police have
confirmed that they are trying
to interview Ford in relation
to their criminal investigation
of Alexander Lisi, but thus far
the police have not received
a response from the mayor’s
office.

 

Jack-o-lanterns, costumes, and more

Halloween at
Douglas College

Fr

alloween is a time when

most schools dress
up—either the hallways or
the students—in order to
have an appropriate holiday
atmosphere. Douglas College
was no exception, with the
Douglas Students’ Union
(DSU) putting on several
displays of Halloween spirit
in the concourse of the New
Westminster campus.

The pumpkin carving
contest saw about 20 jack-
o’-lanterns spread across a
square arrangement of tables,
along with a voting booth.
The designs ranged from
grotesque (a pumpkin with
gruesome extra bits glued on),
to cute (a pumpkin crying with
pumpkin seeds as its “tears”),

Cazzy
Lewchuk
Staff Writer

to referencing pop culture (the
Batman symbol carved into
a pumpkin). A box to put the
votes in sat alongside, with a
student to answer questions
about the procedure. For
example, he reminded me to
write my name on my vote, as
many students were accidentally
casting anonymous votes. He
also informed me that by writing
my name, I was eligible to win a
Tim Hortons’ gift card—another
bonus to participating in the
festivities.

Also going on in the
concourse from 10 a.m. to
2 p.m. was the Douglas
College Costume Contest. All
participants had their photo
taken against a backdrop
holding a number. The photos
were then displayed on a large
screen so that students could
cast their vote. There were
pirates, Disney characters,
horrifically made up faces, a
werewolf, and even SpongeBob
SquarePants. It was quite a sight,
as the participants contrasted
with the majority of students,

who were not dressed up. The
winner of the contest received a
$100 Metrotown gift card.

After partaking in the
Halloween festivities, a DSU
representative directed me
to complete a survey about
student services in and around
Douglas College. Students who
completed the survey were
entered into a draw for either a
$250 Ticketmaster gift card or
$50 to Walmart. There is no date
yet set for the draw, but the DSU
advised that the draw would
take place once they had 1,000
completed surveys.

Look out for other
opportunities to participate in
DSU events post-Halloween,
including Cinema Politica’s
screening of Status Quo? The
Unfinished Business of Feminism
in Canada on Tuesday November
12 at 4:30 p.m., and the Around
the World Pub Night on
Thursday November 21 at 7:30
p-m. for International Day. To
give your opinion on student
services, take the DSU student
services survey.

 

Photos courtesy of Cazzy Lewchuk

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