Premier Kathleen Wynne is closely watching the “tumultuous situation” swirling around embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, but the province has no immediate plans to intervene.

“We’re not talking about anyone who’s been convicted of anything,” Wynne told reporters in London, Ont., on Friday.

“There have been . . . not even any charges, so we just have to be clear that this is a situation that . . . (is) a personal situation at this point.”

But Wynne indicated she has been monitoring the controversy that erupted a week ago after the Toronto Star and the U.S. website Gawker reported about a video apparently showing Ford smoking crack cocaine.

Her comments came hours before the mayor’s afternoon statement in which he said: “I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine.”

It’s been anything but business-as-usual at city hall since the reports surfaced

On Thursday, Ford unexpectedly fired his chief of staff, Mark Towhey, for what sources told the Star was “insubordination.”

While several media outlets reported Towhey was sacked after urging Ford to seek medical help, there are differing accounts about the rationale.

Wynne was careful when asked about the maelstrom in the provincial capital.

“You may have seen some of the councillors this morning . . . talking about business going on at city hall and them taking responsibility for continuing to do their work,” the premier said.

“So I am very confident that the city council will be able to work in the situation,” she said.

“It’s unfortunate when there are issues that arise that make it a tumultuous situation in a local government. But that’s the reality — that’s what’s happening right now and the city councillors are stepping up to their responsibility.”

Because the province has legislative authority over the city, Wynne, a former municipal affairs minister who represents the Toronto riding of Don Valley West, is keeping a close eye on her hometown.

Under Ontario’s City of Toronto Act, Municipal Affairs Minister Linda Jeffrey could order a mayoral and council byelection in special circumstances.

“If city council is unable to hold a meeting for a period of 60 days because of a failure to obtain a quorum, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing may by order declare all the offices of the members of the council to be vacant and a byelection shall be held in accordance with the Municipal Elections Act, 1996,” the Act states.

That’s a drastic measure that there are no indications Queen’s Park is prepared to take, which is why Wynne is trying to keep the temperature down on the crisis.

“There are mechanisms in place if there are legal issues . . . but that’s not what we’re talking about right now. I’m not going to wade into any kind of speculation into that,” the premier said.

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“We have a judicial system . . . that deals with situations where there’s been a law broken and there are processes. We need to let people go through those processes and determine whether in any of those situations there’s been wrongdoing and then there are remedies attached to the findings in those,” she said.

“There are mechanisms in place and we need to let those mechanisms do their job.”

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