Mayor Rob Ford arrived at the Toronto Region Board of Trade’s glitzy annual dinner amid confusion over whether he was actually invited, only to hear a drubbing from the high-powered board’s president about “distractions” and “the question of leadership.”
Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly’s message and photo took the place in the program usually reserved for Toronto’s chief magistrate. Trade board spokesperson Scott Brownrigg said the deputy was invited to the event, rather than Ford.
“We found that (inviting Ford) would be disingenuous, considering our earlier statements,” said Brownrigg. The trade board became one of the first, and most powerful, organizations to speak out about the scandal engulfing Ford. It called for him to step aside on Nov. 1, the day after Toronto police Chief Bill Blair confirmed that investigators obtained a video, previously reported in the Star, that appeared to show Ford smoking crack cocaine.
When Ford arrived at the Monday dinner, organizers found him a seat near the back of the room. But the mayor left not long after board President Carol Wilding’s remarks.
At about 9 p.m. on Monday night, a tweet from Ford’s account included a photo of a letter addressed to him from the Toronto Region Board of Trade, dated Nov. 11, inviting him to the dinner. The tweet read: “Thanks to Carol Wilding, President of the @TorontoRBOT for taking the time to personally invite me to tonight’s event.”
