What could be as bad as being knocked over by a Ford truck? Being knocked over by Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, as a Toronto councilwoman found out during a session that ended in him effectively being stripped of his powers as mayor.
As the council debated a motion to take away Ford’s staff, budget and authority, Ford, who last week admitted to smoking crack, paced the chamber yelling at constituents seated in a public gallery, some of them chanting “shame” at the mayor.
“It was a complete accident,” Ford said later of barreling into Councilor Pat McConnell. “I sincerely apologize.”Ford helped McConnell back to her feet, but according to one councilor’s account, the woman split her lip in the altercation.
I wonder what new video he’ll star in tomorrow?
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.