THE EMBATTLED MAYOR of Canada’s largest city was last night stripped of the last meaningful powers he had, then ran into a female councillor, leaving her with a bruised lip.
Rob Ford had previously had his powers limited, but last night had his powers further scaled back.
Ford taunted spectators in the public gallery as the debate became more and more raucous. He eventually charged towards the public gallery, knocking councillor Pam McConnell over.
(Rob Anthony/YouTube)
McConnell said that she wasn’t expecting to be knocked down, saying that the chamber was “the seat of democracy, not a football field.”
When asked to apologise, Ford said that he had been aiming to come to the aid of his brother, councillor Doug Ford.
“I picked her up. I ran around because I thought my brother was getting into an altercation.”
When the vote came through to slash Ford’s mayoral budget and move some of his staff to the office of the Deputy Mayor, Ford called it a “coup d’etat”.
He likened the move to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and vowed an “outright war” in next year’s mayoral election.
Ford has admitted to smoking crack and drink-driving, but his approval rating has remained steady, bolstered by support from Toronto’s suburbs, dubbed “Ford Nation”.
Councillor David Fillion told reporters that Ford had been given chances to change his behaviour.
“The mayor unfortunately has chosen the path of denial. Now it’s time to take away the keys.”
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