By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday, November 1, 2013
Rob Ford: ‘I have no reason to resign’
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford says he has no reason to resign even as Toronto police Chief Bill Blair revealed his force is in possession of a video that allegedly shows Ford smoking crack cocaine.
“I wish I could come out and defend myself,” Ford said outside his city hall office on Thursday afternoon. “Unfortunately I can’t because it’s before the courts. That’s all I can say.”
Ford appears in a video recovered by police during the Project Traveller investigation, Blair said today after Ford’s friend and occasional driver Alexander Lisi was arrested on an extortion charge. Lisi is also facing drug charges laid previously.
Blair said a video seized during an investigation contains images of Ford that have been described by media outlets, an apparent reference to an alleged video that shows Ford smoking crack cocaine.
“We have recovered a digital video file, which is consistent with that which had previously been described in various media reports, and that file forms part of the evidence of the charge that we have laid today,” Blair said.
“I think it’s fair to say that the mayor does appear in that video, but I’m not going to get into the detail of what activity is depicted on that video,” said Blair, who added that he was disappointed at the contents of the video.
Blair made the shocking revelation Thursday, the same day court documents were released detailing some of the evidence police used to obtain search warrants for Lisi on drug charges.
A Toronto police news release issued shortly after’s Blair news conference alleges Lisi made “extortive efforts to retrieve a recording.”
Blair also said the video does not contain enough evidence to lay charges against Ford.
The documents released Thursday detail evidence police gathered in order to get a search warrant for Lisi, who is also known as Alessandro or Sandro, on drug charges. (Source: CBC News) http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/rob-ford-i-have-no-reason-to-resign-1.2303146
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