Ford ouster could go to Supreme Court

TORONTO — With the ink barely dry on a Divisional Court decision allowing Mayor Rob Ford to remain in office, the lawyer pursuing his ouster announced he will try to appeal the judgment to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Clayton Ruby said in a statement that the panel of three judges let the mayor off on a “technicality” when it overturned Justice Charles Hackland’s ruling that the mayor had breached the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act and should be booted from office.

“We believe that there are serious errors of law in the judgment and we will ask the Supreme Court of Canada for leave to appeal to that Court. It must be acknowledged that such appeals are not easy but this remains an important issue for all citizens,” said Ruby, who represents Paul Magder, the Toronto resident who launched the legal action.

Regional Senior Justice Edward Then, Justice Katherine Swinton and Justice Lynne Leitch concluded that Hackland had erred in finding the city had the authority to order the mayor to reimburse donations made to his private football foundation. The city’s integrity commissioner had found the donations from lobbyists and a company that had dealings with the city were obtained improperly with use of city resources.

But the higher court objected to a “so-called remedial measure … being used for a punitive purpose.”

Furthermore, council’s decision went beyond the actions allowed in the city code of conduct “because it required Ford to reimburse funds which he never received personally,” the judges wrote in a decision released Friday morning.

It concluded the mayor did not have a financial interest in the matter.

“Therefore, the appeal is allowed, the judgment of the application judge is set aside and the application under the MCIA is dismissed.”

Addressing reporters at city hall, the mayor said: “This has been a very, very humbling experience. I have enormous respect for the judicial system.” Support from residents spurred him to keep fighting, he added.