The Mayor Rob Ford video scandal will not end with his firing of Councillor Jaye Robinson from executive committee for suggesting he take time off to deal with his “personal issues,” Robinson says.

The Don Valley West councillor told a crush of reporters Tuesday morning she stands by her call for Ford to “clearly and definitively and without question,” address ongoing questions about his alleged substance abuse.

“I believe Torontonians feel like-minded. They want answers and they want them now . . . ,” Robinson said.

“I think that this is going to continue to unfold. I don’t think it’s over. However, I do think that members of council will step up and we’ll work together,” despite the ongoing distraction in Toronto and abroad, she said.

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Ford denied that Robinson’s call for him to consider a leave of absence is behind her firing.

“That’s not true,’ he told reporters during the city council meeting. He said he replaced her with Councillor Anthony Perruzza, a former NDP MPP, to reward him for voting with his administration.

Councillor Doug Ford said: “We are going in a new direction, folks.

“Anthony Perruzza shares the same priorities as the mayor. It’s six months to the (registration period for the 2014) election and we want to move forward in a different direction.”

Deputy mayor Doug Holyday said he was “disappointed” to see Robinson and would have kept her on if he’d had a say in it.

He said he hadn’t been told of any new direction. “I don’t know what possible direction change we would be making. I think we’ve always been on a fiscally responsible agenda, and I hope we stay on it.”

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He said it was “unfortunate” that the executive was left a 13-member male bastion. “If we had women that would support the agenda and help out, I would be glad to see them on there. But I guess we’re having difficulty finding ones that are supportive.”

Robinson told reporters she continues to support Ford’s conservative fiscal agenda and acted as a “bridge-builder” and moderate voice on executive.

“It is unfortunate that the executive committee no longer seems to have room for a diversity of voices or points of view . . . ,” Robinson said. “It is unfortunate that divisive and polarizing attitudes are dividing our great city and alienating communities.”

She also accused the mayor of not having the “fortitude” to fire her, after two and a half years on executive and six months as committee chair, face to face. His junior staffer called her in her ward and demanded she appear at Ford’s office in 10 minutes.

That was impossible, so Ford called her office and told her staff she’s out, she said. Ford called that “completely not true,” saying he tried to reach her multiple times.

Robinson called the loss of a female voice on the executive committee “unfortunate” and predicted Ford will be more comfortable with an “all-male cast.”

She believes her firing was also related to her comments that her residents want to hear a clear explanation from Mayor Ford — not statements from his brother, Councillor Ford, speaking on the mayor’s behalf.

The mayor has said there is no video, which was separately viewed by a senior editor of the Gawker website, and that he does not use crack cocaine.

But when reporters press for answers, the mayor routinely says: “Anything else?”

Councillor Paul Ainslie, a once-loyal Ford ally, will stay on executive, but was removed Monday as chair of the government management committee and made chair of the lower-profile parks and environment committee.

Ainslie confirmed to the Star in March that the mayor was asked to leave a military ball at which organizers were concerned that he was intoxicated.

The Star reported in mid-May the existence of the 90-second cellphone video apparently showing Ford smoking crack cocaine and making derogatory remarks about federal Liberal leader Justin Trudeau and the high school football players Ford was coaching.

On May 23 Ford fired his chief of staff and policy guru Mark Towhey. Sources have told the Star the two clashed on issues including Towhey’s advice that Ford go to rehab.