The pretrial hearing in a $6-million libel case launched against Mayor Rob Ford by the owner of the Boardwalk Pub was held Friday.

The hearing, which was closed to the public as is custom, lasted about three hours at the University Ave. courthouse.

The mayor, who was accompanied by his chief of staff, one of his young special assistants, and his spokesman, George Christopoulos, waited in a second-floor room while the two legal teams discussed the case behind a locked door.

Afterwards, Ford was asked if he had any comment about the proceedings. The mayor walked briskly by a reporter without acknowledging the question.

Ford’s lawyer, Gavin Tighe, gave a brief statement.

“There’s really nothing to comment on. This is just pretrial. It’s part of the process,” he said.

Asked if he had any idea when the case will go to trial, Tighe replied: “It’s up to the court. Hopefully quickly.”

George Foulidis launched the lawsuit two years ago, shortly before the 2010 municipal election. Foulidis’ lakefront restaurant in the Beach became a political lightning rod during the campaign. His 20-year lease with the city was renewed in 2006 without taking outside bids. Sole-sourced contracts were a hot topic and point of contention during the last election.

Foulidis has accused Ford of exploiting his family business for political gain.

In Aug. 2010, Ford told the Toronto Sun the city contract Foulidis had won smells of civic corruption. He went on to say: “it’s confidential and I wish you guys knew what happened behind closed doors.”

Ford also told a radio station: “I truly believe” someone is getting money under the table in connection to the contract.

Foulidis hired a lawyer and demanded Ford apologize or face legal consequences. Ford’s campaign team told the media he would not be backing down.

A statement of defence accused Foulidis of filing the lawsuit “to prevent Rob from being elected as mayor.”

Ford’s lawyer said his client never mentioned Foulidis by name in any of the allegedly libelous comments.

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“If you look at what Mr. Ford actually said, what he said it about, it was a critique of the way city hall is conducting the affairs of the city,” Tighe told the Star at the time.

Neither Foulidis nor his lawyer could be reached for comment.