Crazy Town: The Rob Ford Story (40 page)

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, “Aspiring 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.

pg.  95
It was a liability that according to insiders:
Robert Benzie and Rob Ferguson, “eHealth Scandal Dents Smitherman’s Mayoral Run,”
Toronto Star
, October 9, 2009.

pg.  96
“I apologize if I offended you”:
David Rider, “Rob Ford Apologizes for 2006 AIDS Comment,”
Toronto Star
, May 11, 2010.

pg.  97
“Nick, I know, I know”:
Interview with Nick Kouvalis, August 2013.

pg.  97
“It was very grassroots”:
Interview with Roman Gawur, September 2013.

pg.  97
Kouvalis was out jogging with Ford:
The story of the Dieter Doneit-Henderson incident was put together through interviews with Nick Kouvalis, Adrienne Batra, and Fraser Macdonald.

pg.  102
She was one of Ford’s biggest cheerleaders:
Rob Ford actually donated one thousand dollars to Sue-Ann Levy’s political campaign when the columnist took a hiatus from her journalism gig to run for provincial office as a Conservative in 2009. When she lost, Levy picked up where she left off, ranting about socialists at “silly hall.”

pg.  103
“quietly [been] asked to stop coaching … attack on his candidacy”:
Robert Cribb and Kristin Rushowy, “Rob Ford Told He Was Unwelcome as a Football Coach at Toronto High School,”
Toronto Star
, July 13, 2010.

pg.  104
“outrageous, it’s slanderous and patently incorrect”:
Natalie Alcoba, “Rob Ford Denies He Was Pushed Out as High School Football Coach,”
National Post
, July 14, 2010.

pg.  104
“That’s completely untrue”:
Kelly Grant, “Former Student Football Player Says Rob Ford Never Hit Him,”
The Globe and Mail
, July 28, 2010.

pg.  105
“If Tory had got in, he would have won”:
Interview with Nick Kouvalis, August 2013.

pg.  105
“If you look at the campaigns I’ve been through”:
Interview with John Tory, August 2013.

pg.  106
“We’re together. We have the same thoughts”:
Don Peat, “Ford Weighs In on Same-Sex Marriage,”
Toronto Sun
, August 4, 2010. Video of press conference at
www.torontosun.com/videos/life/life/5828781001/ford-weighs-in-on-same-sex-marriage/407548958001/page/8
.

pg.  107
“corruption is a strong term”:
Paul Moloney, “Ford’s Corruption Charge Angers Miller,”
Toronto Star
, August 12, 2010.

pg.  108
“if I have to choose”:
Robyn Doolittle, “Rob Ford Video Scandal: Don’t Count the Mayor Out Yet, Political Strategists Say,”
Toronto Star,
June 1, 2013. (I edited out “beats their wife” from the original, newspaper version.)

pg.  109
“He’s the best Christmas present”:
Tamara Baluja, “Toronto City Hall Gallery Welcomes the New Mayor,”
The Toronto Observer
, December 7, 2010.

CHAPTER 6:
HE WON’T GIVE UP THE BLOW

pg.  111
“Hey Renata,” John says:
John (not his real name) secretly recorded this meeting. Confirming it was in fact Renata Ford’s voice was a concern, since I don’t know her voice well enough to make that judgment. After several months of work, I am confident it is her for the following reasons: John knew her cell phone number, which is not readily available (I obtained it from a staff member); the voice on her voice mail message sounds the same; when I played the recording for a member of Ford’s extended family, that person confirmed it was her; John made other recordings. In another, Renata Ford talks about details of the couple’s personal life and health history that I do not believe an impostor would easily know. The full recording I listened to is about twenty minutes long. John wanted to sell me the tape for two thousand dollars. I did not purchase the audio.

pg.  113
“I figured, I’m not going to be a city councillor forever”:
Interview with Councillor Jaye Robinson, August 12, 2013.

pg.  114
Kouvalis had three questions:
Nick Kouvalis confirmed that this was how the meetings went.

pg.  115
“If it’s a strategy to sway votes”:
Daniel Dale, “Ford’s Hardball on Traffic Light Has Centrist Seeing Red,”
Toronto Star
, July 26, 2011.

pg.  116
“They talked about running it”:
Interview with Paul Ainslie, July 2013.

pg.  116
“I took a huge pay cut to take this job”:
Interview with Councillor Jaye Robinson, August 12, 2013.