Mayor Rob Ford said Sunday that he has been informed of an impending legal challenge to council’s ban on plastic shopping bags.

“Will we be challenged in court? I’m pretty sure. We probably are as we speak being challenged. I don’t know if the people know about that. Are we going to be? Well, I’ve had a few phone calls coming into my office from certain individuals that said yes, we’re taking you to court,” he said on his NewsTalk 1010 radio show.

More:Full coverage of Toronto’s plastic bag ban

Ford did not identify the individuals. The lobby groups for the plastics and retail industry said last week that they were still contemplating their options.

Ford softened somewhat on the legality of the ban. He said last week that he was confident it would be thrown out in court; he said Sunday that he wasn’t sure what would happen.

Ford again blasted council for the surprise decision, which came without any notice or public consultation during a debate on Ford’s effort to scrap the mandatory bag fee. But he faced unusually blunt criticism from callers over his own failure to prevent the vote from occurring.

“Why did this come up as some big surprise? Why are we blaming this on the rest of council?” asked one.

Said another: “You guys really need to learn how to engage with the other councillors. I know you’re good people, and I know you’re nice people and they all like you, but shame on you for not knowing how people were gonna vote.”

Ford responded tersely: “So you support the 6-cent bag tax?” The caller, named Mel, said he didn’t. Ford said: “You support banning bags in Toronto?” Mel said, “No, I don’t. But you’re missing my point: you didn’t go about it the right way, and it’s because you didn’t that this happened.”

Councillor Doug Ford said, “I don’t care if you have the Pope down there, Mel. I don’t care if you have the Pope down there. A lot of the councillors just run off the reservation. I’m not too sure what the hell they’re doing. They just come up and bang! Two or three votes, it’s gone.” Repeatedly cutting off the mayor’s attempts to interject, he added: “I can’t help it if the cheese slips off the cracker once in a while. You know what I mean? We try our best to accommodate people . . . come on, give me a better argument next time.”

More from the Star:10 reasons to ban plastic bags in Toronto

Plastic bag ban: Who wins? Who loses?

Is plastic bag headed for history’s trash heap?

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Read more about: