Doug Ford has responded to a Globe and Mail report alleging the Toronto councillor sold hashish decades ago.
“I think it’s pretty low and a bunch of sleazy, sleazy journalism,” the Toronto mayor’s brother reportedly said over the phone to Global News’ Sean O’Shea. “I’ve done nothing, nothing but support this community for 30 years.”
Ford also called the “attack” on his family and himself “disgusting,” according to CityNews Toronto, and defended himself in an interview with Maurie Sherman of Kiss 92.5.
“I feel confident in my own skin that I’ve done nothing but give back to this city," he said. “This is what happens when you’re out there for the common folk.”
Story continues below slideshow
The Globe’s report, an investigative article released Saturday, says multiple unnamed sources characterized Ford as “a go-to dealer of hash” in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke for many years, mostly in the 1980s.
“Some of the sources said that, in the affluent pocket of Etobicoke where the Fords grew up, he was someone who sold not only to users and street-level dealers, but to dealers one rung higher than those on the street,” the article said.
It also cites sister Kathy Ford’s links to violence and white supremacists, and decades-old charges of assault causing bodily harm and forcible confinement against brother Randy Ford, which reportedly had to do with a neighbourhood drug dealer. The Globe couldn't determine the outcome of the charges. Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's lawyer, Dennis Morris, who represented Randy at the time, said he did not recall the incident, the paper reported.
The article makes clear that The Globe could find no criminal records for Doug Ford that supported allegations against him.
It also quotes Ford’s lawyer, Gavin Tighe, who denied allegations against his client.
In an editor's letter, Stackhouse also said the publication tried to contact both the mayor and his brother about the reports, and when a senior editor paid a visit to Doug Ford, he “rebuffed our entreaties, and aggressively threatened legal action.”
The Globe’s report comes after editor John Cook of Gawker and reporters from the Toronto Star said they viewed a video purportedly showing the Toronto mayor smoking crack cocaine. Rob Ford called their reports “ridiculous” and on Friday made a public statement to address the allegations.