SPECTACLE TURNS TO POWER STRUGGLE
Other than 911 call five years ago, her private life a mystery
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, flanked by his wife, Renata, apologizes for a lewd comment made earlier in the day Thursday. It was a rare public appearance for the Mayor’s wife, who has kept a low profile since election night in 2010.
Although the occasion was awkward — an apology from Mayor Rob Ford for glibly mentioning his marital sex life — on Thursday Toronto got a rare look at Renata Ford, the elusive wife of the embattled chief magistrate.
Standing to the mayor’s right, Ms. Ford shifted uncomfortably, appearing to be inaudibly sighing, as Mr. Ford said for the first time that he was receiving support from a team of “health-care professionals.”
Later, as she walked to her car in the city hall parking garage, she was ambushed by news cameras. “I think my husband said already enough, please respect our privacy,” she said when asked if she had any comment.
I think my husband said already enough, please respect our privacy
When pressed if her husband should step aside or take a leave of absence, she said “that’s why we have elections.”
For most Torontonians, Thursday was the first time they have seen Mr. Ford’s slim, blonde wife since Election Night 2010, when she accompanied her husband to victory celebrations at the Toronto Congress Center.
In the preceding months, she had regularly appeared at his side in Toronto-area campaign stops.
Since he has become mayor, she is rarely photographed with him at local events, but she does accompany him on official business, such as his trip to Guadalajara, Mex., for the Pan American Games or his recent trip to Austin, Tex.
Nevertheless, even those who work closely with the mayor say they have almost no knowledge of Renata Ford’s routines or private life.
Born Renata Brejniak to Polish parents, she met Rob Ford in high school and they were married in 2000 at St. George’s Golf and Country Club, when Mr. Ford was 31, according to a comprehensive Toronto Life profile of her in 2011.
On an episode of Mayor Ford’s weekly radio show on Newstalk 1010 last November, brother Doug referred to her as “the Polack” and “your Polish little princess.”
Before the show was over, however, Doug corrected himself on the playful use of the ethnic slur and said “I’m sure Renata’s gonna give me a good beatin’.”
Ms. Ford’s parents, Tadeusz and Henryka Brejniak, still live only a few blocks away from the Fords’ Etobicoke bungalow.
Although the Ford household has projected an image of stability over the past few months — even as Mr. Ford spirals into an ever-deepening pit of alcohol and drug allegations — it was only five years ago that a 911 call from Renata Ford prompted Mr. Ford to be led away from his house in handcuffs.
Police charged the then councillor with domestic assault, but the Crown later withdrew the charges due to “inconsistencies” in Ms. Ford’s story.
Only hours before the 911 call, Mr. Ford’s lawyer later told the press, Mr. Ford himself had called police over his wife’s “”irrational, out-of-control behaviour.”
Leaving the courtroom in May 2008, Mr. Ford said he and his wife were undergoing couples therapy and that he planned to move back into the family home after spending two months living with his mother.
“It’s over with and done with and I’m going to move forward,” said Mr. Ford at the time.
After the episode, Ms. Ford’s parents told the Toronto Star their daughter was “getting help.’’
Back in June, a month after the crack video allegations surfaced, Ms. Ford emerged to make some of the only public comments she has uttered during her husband’s mayoral career.
She called the Toronto Sun’s Joe Warmington to discuss the regular swarms of reporters outside their house.
“I kind of feel sorry for them. … I look out the window sometimes at 6:30 a.m. and I see them. Sometimes it’s raining,” she said.
As for the Fords’ two young children, Ms. Ford told the newspaper “they just think they are all there because they really love their father.”