Rob Ford ‘sorry’ but not asking for forgiveness

(Updated)
Rob Ford, the embattled mayor of Toronto is back at work after a two month stint in rehab. And he started the latest chapter in political career with a speech that covered a range of subjects including his addictions. But while he offered a lot of apologies and said he took responsibility for his actions — Ford wouldn’t take any questions.

There was a crush of media and also bystanders out front of Ford’s office all day but it was a tightly scripted return to office for mayor Ford — he zipped past reporters from the elevator into his office without a word and when it was time for the news conference only about 25 reporters and camera operators were allowed in. Ford seemed a bit emotional when he described how the rehab centre saved his life. He said he now realizes he has a disease that will take lifelong treatment.

“At Greenstone, I accepted in my position I am held to a higher standard. To my family, and to all those who stood by me during these extrememly difficult times and i want to thank you for giving another chance. To my fellow councillors, especially to Karen Stintz for my hurtful and degrading remarks, I offer my deepfelt apology for my behaviour. To the media, I want to thank you. I want to thank the media for giving me and the residents at Greenstone the privacy we needed. But I am not, not asking you for forgiveness.”

He’s not asking for forgiveness but Ford says he’s grateful people in Toronto are forgiving. The second half of his speech was all about how he was going to stop that gravy train, how he saved taxpayer money during his term and how he was going to work hard to regain people’s trust. But the top two contenders in Toronto’s mayor’s race both had words today.

John Tory says Rob Ford should step down now, and wait for October to see if he still has people’s confidence: “Well, I don’t think he can spend 8 weeks and not confront the demons. The question is can you wrestle them to the ground. And I think that bottom line is this is somehting that people are going to think carefully about which is the real risk of ever seeing this happen again in this city involving him or anyone else. We have been massively embarassed our system of government, massively turned upside down. Results are almost impossible to achieve — I mean this man in my view is incable of working with the city councillors again on a normal basis and incable of working with other levels of government — which is so important to getting results for people.”

And Olivia Chow told the media she noticed that Rob Ford didn’t apologize to everyone he offended: “He looks sincere. He said he has dealt with his demons, whatever they may be. That he regretted what he did. That he took full responsibility for what he did. I’m sorry that he didn’t apologize to people of a diverse community. It’s not up to me to decide if he’s sincere or not. That’s not really the issue. Yes he has offended many. And I’m glad that he apologized to Karen Stintz — good for him. But, would he do it again? I’m not the one to judge.”

Ford invited councillors to meet with him in his office after that news conference but John Filion was the only one around, he figured he might be the only one there; he said he was interested in what Ford had to say and that it didn’t matter if the mayor stays in office until the fall — because the motions that stripped Ford of most of his executive power are still in place.

Since Ford’s admission of drug use, his role at city hall has been largely symbolic, after city council stripped him of most of his power last fall.

Toronto mayoral candidate Olivia Chow released a new attack ad targeting Ford on the same day.

The ad criticizes Ford’s claims that he saved the city more than a billion dollars. According to recent polls, Chow has a considerable lead over Ford and John Tory heading into October’s election. However Ford’s approval rating did improve after announcing his return to city hall.

Additional video: Extended coverage of Ford’s apology appearance: