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Meanwhile, he confirmed Wednesday police are investigating a threat to a member of the Ford family.

“That’s in the police hands right now,” the mayor said. “Yeah, a threat came in but the police are handling it and that’s all I can say right now.”

Councillor Doug Ford also spoke out about the threats during an interview with CP24 Wednesday. “We have serious, serious threats against my family, almost on a daily basis.

“It’s worrisome,” he said

The mayor has been widely criticized for his handling of the uproar that has engulfed city hall and triggered an exodus of staff in his office. Crisis management experts say he took too long to respond and when he spoke, it’s what he didn’t say that fueled further speculation. Still, the polls show his support hasn’t taken nearly as big a hit as experts would expect. This week, the crowds of television cameras stationed outside his office dwindled to none, and the velvet rope set up to keep reporters at bay was put away. Deliberate or not, could the strategy of so-called “business as usual” work for the embattled chief magistrate?

Pollster John Wright thinks so.

“I thought he would be in single digits by now, and he certainly isn’t,” said Mr. Wright, with Ipsos Reid. The company polled 530 people for CTV News and CP24 and found Torontonians evenly split on whether they believe the mayor on the crack allegations; 34% said they would vote for him again. “He basically has weathered the storm and decided he is going to get back on the agenda,” said Mr. Wright. “The issue is what comes next? And to what degree is it verifiable?” he said. “It’s got to literally be the bullet from the smoking gun. And even then, it could just wound him.”