Toronto City Hall surveillance footage, obtained by The Globe and Mail through an access-to-information request, shows a security guard helping Mayor Rob Ford into his brother Doug Ford’s Escalade shortly before 10 p.m. on Easter Monday.The Globe and Mail
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford "appeared intoxicated" when asking City Hall security guards to bring an unidentified female visitor to his office on Easter Monday, according to a security guard's account of the night – an account the mayor's brother Doug Ford says is untrue.
A newly released City Hall security report and surveillance footage obtained through freedom-of-information laws reveal new details about the weeks leading up to Mayor Ford's announcement in late April that he was taking a leave of absence. That announcement followed a report in The Globe and Mail that the mayor was filmed in a second video smoking what appeared to be crack cocaine, as well as an admission from the mayor of "problems with alcohol." The mayor has since been at a rehab facility in Muskoka, and is expected to return to Toronto in late June. According to the report, guards received a call at 7:50 p.m. from an unidentified woman on the evening of April 21 – Easter Monday, when power is usually shut down at City Hall.
The woman asked about a specific security guard ("S/G Toolaram"), and whether the guard who answered the call had spoken with him about her arrival. The guard later located Mr. Toolaram in the mayor's office, and was told by Mr. Ford to "bring her up." The guard did so, after noting that Mr. Ford "appeared to be intoxicated as he was slurring his words, red in the face, and sweating profusely."
About an hour later, the woman – whose name has been redacted from the report – left City Hall.
When reached for comment on Friday morning, Doug Ford – who is also managing his brother's re-election campaign – refused to comment to The Globe. He told the Toronto Sun that the mayor was not intoxicated that night – he had "muscle spasms in his legs." He also told The Sun the woman is a "friend of the family."
The security report says that about an hour after the woman left, Doug Ford arrived at City Hall in his black Cadillac Escalade. As the mayor was escorted down to his brother's car by Mr. Toolaram, security guards noted that "the mayor can be seen stumbling and even falling on the ground before being seated in the vehicle."
The accompanying surveillance video, shot just before 10 p.m., shows the mayor with the guard walking slowly towards the car in a collared shirt and blazer. The guard helps the mayor into the SUV and shuts the door, but moments later, the mayor opens the door and steps out.
He is seen falling to the floor at one point, before Mr. Toolaram again comes to his side and lifts him back into the car.
Ann Hui