Deputy mayor urges mayor to address crack video

A close ally of Toronto mayor Rob Ford said today that Ford has followed legal advice in remaining silent about a purported video that appears to show him smoking crack cocaine.
Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday said he's been told by Ford and his aides that lawyers have advised the mayor that saying less is better. Holyday said he doesn't know why that advice has been given.
He is urging Ford to address the video. The mayor of Canada's largest city has continued to duck questions. He avoided a throng of reporters yesterday in his first public appearances following a long holiday weekend in Canada.

"The mayor has to come out and speak to the media. I don't know when that is going to take place, but I believe it has to happen," Holyday said. "He has to clearly state his position on the whole thing. Until he does that it won't go away."
Ford has repeatedly ignored reporters, but got into an exchange with a local television reporter at a Tim Hortons doughnut shop inside a convenience store this morning.
"Are you going to escort me all the way to city hall too," Ford mockingly asked a reporter for CTV television. "Did you bring your sleeping bag? Did you bring your pillow?

"Make sure you pick up your pillow and your sleeping bag outside tonight, partner. Do you want me to make your bed for you tonight? Make sure you camp out tonight."

His brother, City Councilor Doug Ford, defended the mayor in a lengthy speech at city hall.
"Rob is telling me these stories are untrue, that these allegations are ridiculous and I believe him," Ford said.
Ford said never has a politician been targeted in Canada as much as his brother.
The alleged crack smoking video has not been released publicly and there is no way to verify whether it is authentic. Reports on the gossip website Gawker and in the Toronto Star claimed it was taken by men who claimed they had sold the drug to Ford. The Associated Press hasn't seen the video.

The Star reported that two journalists watched a video that appears to show Ford, sitting in a chair, inhaling from what appears to be a glass crack pipe. The Star said it did not obtain the video or pay to watch it. Gawker and the Star said the video was shown to them by a drug dealer who had been trying to sell it for a six-figure sum.
The Star also reported that Ford allegedly made an anti-gay slur against the leader of the federal Liberal Party of Canada, Justin Trudeau, and a racist remark about high school football students he coaches.

In brief comments Friday, Ford called the allegations "ridiculous" and "another story with respect to the Toronto Star going after me. And that's all I've got to say for now.