

Chris Fox, CP24.com





Mayor Rob Ford says he wants his actions to speak for themselves as he works to make changes in his life following his admission that he has smoked crack cocaine while in office.

Ford made the comment to reporters during a news conference at city hall Tuesday afternoon.

The news conference was held to urge city residents to donate to relief efforts in the Philippines following a deadly typhoon in that country over the weekend.

“It is going absolutely fantastic but talk is cheap,” Ford said when asked what he is doing to deal with his personal problems. “Action speaks louder than words.”

Ford has denied having an alcohol or drug addiction, though his lawyer told the Associated Press on Friday that he is “considering his options,” including treatment after a video of him in a profanity-laced tirade surfaced.

On Tuesday morning, Ford's brother Coun. Doug Ford told reporters that the mayor is getting the “support he needs,” but he said it would be up to his brother to provide further information.

When pressed for more information on Tuesday, Mayor Ford simply said that he is “doing very, very well.” Ford then reiterated that he will remain as mayor despite calls for him to step aside.

“I was elected to come down here and save taxpayers money,” he said. “I have saved more money than any other mayor in the history of the city and that’s what I will continue to do.”

The mayor has been under fire since a Halloween news conference in which Toronto police Chief Bill Blair revealed that officers had recovered a video that appears to show Ford smoking from a glass pipe.

In court today, Ontario Superior Court Judge Ian Nordheimer retired to his chambers to watch that video - along with a shorter clip - both depicting the same incident.

After watching the videos, Nordheimer said there is "theoretically" information contained within the video that could help a man charged with drug offences pursue a civil lawsuit, but he did not issue a ruling on whether the video will be released, promising to rule on it as soon as he can.

Lawyers for Muhammad Khattak, who is seen with Ford in a now infamous photo outside a known drug house, are pursuing the release of the video, saying their client’s reputation has been harmed by being associated with it in the eyes of the public.

“Really, before (Mr. Khattak) can bring a civil suit, he has to know who the parties (involved in and with the video) are,” Daniel Brown, Khattak’s lawyer told CP24 Tuesday afternoon. “We’ve heard some information about some of the people involved in shopping this video around, (but) we haven’t heard anything about how that video was created, when it was created and who was involved perhaps in masterminding this idea of putting out the video and putting out a picture of Mr. Khattak and others to legitimize the video.”

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