Mayor’s driver tried to swap drugs for phone: document
NO RESPONSE FROM FORD
calls mounted Tuesday for Mayor rob Ford to address reports that he and his associates are under investigation by Toronto police, just as new allegations emerged about an attempt by Alexander Lisi to swap drugs for the mayor’s stolen cellphone.
Asked about the reports, a jubilant Mayor Ford, en route to council to debate the proposed Scarborough subway, emphatically shook his head and chanted: “Subways, subways, subways!”
The mayor has said almost nothing about the ongoing police investigation and his involvement with accused criminals since Lisi, his friend and occasional driver, was arrested last week and charged with drug trafficking. The next day, Mayor Ford held a minutes-long news conference at a gas station near his home to defend Lisi as a “good guy.”
The latest reports on Project brazen 2 — an offshoot of the west-end gang sweep called Project Traveller, in which a special squad of detectives are probing the activities of Mayor Ford and his associates — cite a police document that states Lisi was “heard to be brokering the return of a cellular phone stolen from an associate of his, with a payment of marijuana.” Mayor Ford was allegedly the “associate” referenced in the March incident.
Mayor Ford’s stolen phone is not believed to be linked to an alleged video of the mayor smoking from a crack pipe. The man who allegedly tried to sell that video to the media was swept up this past June in the Project Traveller raids, along with dozens of other suspected gang members.
Toronto Police spokesman Mark Pugash would not discuss the latest Lisi reports, noting: “The case is now before the courts.”
but council colleagues, even the mayor’s traditional allies, say the city needs clarity on the ever-expanding web of allegations. councillor denzil Minnan-Wong called it an “unnecessary distraction” from the business of governing Toronto, and urged Mayor Ford to “think long and hard” about the people with whom he associates.
“He’s the leader of our city… I think people are very sad that their mayor may be under police investigation, and it shows a level of bad judgment that he associates with people who may have criminal records, who may be involved in buying and selling drugs,” Mr. Minnan-Wong said. “That’s not something that anybody should be proud of and I’d like to see a mayor who stands up for things we do believe in, like law and order, like says ‘ no drugs’ and who takes a hard line against crime.”
councillor Shelley carroll said she wants a “straight answer” on whether police are probing Mayor Ford and what the mayor knows about it. If he is indeed being investigated, “it’s time for the mayor to step down, take a leave of absence and let decision-making proceed under a deputy mayor,” Ms. carroll said.
councillor doug Ford, meanwhile, voiced serious concerns about the source of the latest reports concerning Lisi and the mayor’s cellphone.
“I support the police investigation. I support the police… I just hope the police aren’t working hand-in-hand with the Toronto Star,” he told reporters at city hall, noting if police leaked the Project brazen 2 document to the media, “they would be breaking the law.”
councillor Ford declined to comment on whether it was appropriate for his brother to associate with someone who has been arrested on drug charges, noting: “This is up to the people to decide next election.”