Councillor Rob Ford (open Rob Ford's policard) offered what he called a “heartfelt apology” at city council Tuesday for uttering racial slurs as Toronto mayor in 2012 and 2013.

But Ford complained on his way to the council chamber about being forced to say “sorry” by the city’s integrity commissioner for using epithets such as “n-----” and “P---”.

And after standing to say he was “ashamed” for his “hurtful” words, Ford rebuffed the Ethiopian community leader whose complaint had triggered the integrity commissioner’s investigation and led to the eventual public apology.

In light of that, when the report on Ford’s comments comes up during this week’s meeting, he is expected to get a rough ride from some on council.

Ford’s words to council:

“I want to call to your attention the fact that I've taken time to go through the integrity commissioner's report on a formal complaint lodged against me while I was mayor of this great city.

“I'm aware of my hurtful nature of my comments and the fact that they are absolutely unacceptable. I understand the concerns brought forward in the report, including the standards set out by the Ontario Human Rights Code. Mr. Mayor, members of council, I'm deeply ashamed of what I said and I recognize that they bring discredit to both myself and council as a whole.

“I wish to offer my heartfelt apology for my words and actions.”

On his way to saying that, however, Ford told CTV’s Natalie Johnson it was “ridiculous” he had to say “sorry,” in addition to past blanket apologies, adding: “How many times do I have to apologize?”

Samuel Getachew, the journalist and Little Ethiopia community organizer who filed the formal complaint, told reporters that Ford was “trying his best. It’s time for me to move on, and I fully accept” the apology.

Then Getachew tweeted to Councillor Paul Ainslie (open Paul Ainslie's policard), who sits beside Ford, that he hoped to shake Ford’s hand. Ainslie told the Star he passed the information to Ford, who said, “Sure,” and walked toward the public gallery.

Getachew says he shook Ford’s hand, uncertain if Ford knew who he was, and said: “I accept what you just said and wish you well.’

Ford “looked at me and said, ‘Was that you who complained about me?’ and stopped shaking my hand and pushed my hand toward me aggressively. Then he turned and walked to talk to some school kids in the gallery.”

Getachew said he believes Ford’s apology was insincere, but is happy council’s code of conduct and the integrity commissioner forced him to atone for words that are hurtful and disrespectful to many Torontonians.

In a report on council’s agenda, integrity commissioner Val Jepson deemed Ford’s racial slurs, uttered during a mayoralty tarred by substance abuse, were “harmful, contrary to the (city’s) code of conduct and unbecoming of his office.”

Those comments:

On March 17, 2012, in the presence of his staff, Ford called a taxi driver a “P---” and mocked the driver’s language with “fake language sounds.”

On March 5, 2014, Ford said, “Nobody sticks up for people like I do, every f---ing k--e, n----r, f---ing w-p, d-go, whatever the race. Nobody does. I’m the most racist guy around. I’m the mayor of Toronto.”

Ford is expected to discover this week whether the results of CT and MRI scans taken Friday show that his doctors are able to operate on a potentially deadly cancerous tumour in his abdomen.

“It’s in the good Lord’s hands,” he said Friday.

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Rob Ford's apology

“I want to call to your attention the fact that I’ve taken time to go through the integrity commissioner’s report on a formal complaint lodged against me while I was mayor of this great city.

“I’m aware of my hurtful nature of my comments and the fact that they are absolutely unacceptable.

“I understand the concerns brought forward in the report including the standards set out by the Ontario Human Rights Code.

“Mr. Mayor, members of council, I'm deeply ashamed of what I said and I recognize that they bring discredit to both myself and council as a whole. I wish to offer my heartfelt apology for my words and actions. Thank you Madame Speaker.”