A cosmetics company with ties to the Ford family business breached the city's bylaws by improperly lobbying former mayor Rob Ford and brother Doug Ford, the city's lobbyist registrar says.

In recent years, The Globe and Mail has reported on cases in which the former mayor and councillor attempted to intervene with city staff on behalf of Apollo Health and Beauty Care – a company that has a commercial relationship with the Ford family's business Deco Labels and Tags. This week, the city's lobbyist registrar, Linda Gehrke, released a report finding that Apollo breached the city's lobbying rules.

But Ms. Gehrke's report found that Apollo's activities were "unintentional," and she has since allowed the company to retroactively register on the lobbyist list. Richard Wachsberg, the co-owner of Apollo, did not respond to requests for comment.

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"In my view, a fair-minded member of the public, reasonably informed of the facts, would reasonably think that lobbying of the then-mayor and then-councillor … placed the members of Council in an apparent conflict of interest," Ms. Gehrke's report reads.

A 2012 report in The Globe found that the former mayor arranged a meeting for Apollo with Toronto Water's general manager, Lou Di Gironimo, to investigate an alleged problem with sewage discharge. At the time, Mr. Di Gironimo said he was not aware of Apollo's dealings with Deco.

And a 2014 Globe report found that the Ford brothers helped Apollo attempt to lobby City Manager Joe Pennachetti for a special property-tax break without disclosing the commercial relationship.

A probe into the Ford brothers' conduct in relation to Apollo by the city's integrity commissioner is still under way.

Ms. Gehrke's report this week found a list of seven instances dating back to 2011 in which Apollo contacted the Fords for city matters without registering as lobbyists, as required in city bylaws.

Ms. Gehrke's report says the president of Apollo invited the former mayor to a tennis match. Lobbying bylaws prohibit members of council from accepting gifts. Rob Ford did not attend, but Doug Ford did along with their mother, Diane Ford, the report says.

The former mayor's chief of staff, Dan Jacobs, said Thursday that the now-councillor does not plan to address the report.

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"As far as the lobbyist registrar report goes, it says he didn't attend, so he's not really involved," Mr. Jacobs said.

And when reached by phone, Doug Ford initially declined to comment. "I think it's an absolute joke," he then said of the report. "It's an attack from special interests."

Also on Thursday, a report from the city's integrity commissioner found the former mayor violated the council code of conduct in using racial slurs in two instances in 2012 and 2014. The mayor has since admitted to uttering the slurs and, according to the report, intends to deliver an apology to city council.

"The statements and conduct of Mr. Ford were inappropriate. The conduct was not just inappropriate – it was abusive, harmful and agreed by society to be unacceptable," Valerie Jepson's report finds. "Considering the position he held at the time, his actions were egregious and wholly unbecoming of the Office of the Mayor."

Samuel Getachew, a 37-year-old Ethiopian-Canadian journalist, filed the complaint against Mr. Ford for the slurs in July.

Ms. Jepson said the former mayor "responded promptly to the complaint and accepted the underlying facts." She said that he brought to her attention a public apology he had made in June of last year, the day he returned from rehab for substance abuse.

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"I want to apologize, not just to the people of Toronto but to everyone who was hurt by my remarks and my actions," he said at the time.

But Ms. Jepson and Mr. Getachew agreed a more "specific" response from Mr. Ford is necessary. As a result, the report says, the councillor intends to deliver a formal apology to city council.

"I've seen lots of people who look like me go and hug him and compliment him and I was disappointed. I wanted more people to say 'no, what you're saying is wrong. Nobody should call us or me the N-word,'" Mr. Getachew said in an interview Thursday.