Mayor Rob Ford has set the stage for a battle at city hall this week by designating a motion urging him to take a leave as a “key” item on Wednesday’s council agenda.

“Let’s get it on,” Ford said Monday, hinting — in just four words uttered to reporters as he entered an elevator outside his office — at his strategy for countering the intense pressure on him to step aside in the wake of stunning admissions about crack cocaine use and a video showing him raging incoherently about “first-degree murder.”

Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong’s motion urges Ford to take a leave of absence. If Ford does not agree, he intends to add a condition asking council to petition the province to remove the mayor from office.

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Ford made his first public appearance since the crack admission with a speech Monday at Remembrance Day ceremonies outside Old City Hall. According to staff, he intends to make Minnan-Wong’s motion one of two key items for Wednesday’s council meeting, which would vault the much-anticipated debate about his apparent substance abuse issues, associations with an alleged drug dealer and refusal to submit to police questioning to the top of the agenda.

He has until the end of the day Tuesday to finalize the agenda.

According to city communications chief Jackie DeSouza, putting Minnan-Wong’s motion at the top means Ford “will be subject to questioning.”

Minnan-Wong, a Ford ally on council and member of his hand-picked executive committee, said designating it a key item “is the right thing to do.”

“He needs to take it head-on. This will be a cloud on the entire council meeting ... because I think all members of council want to deal with this,” Minnan-Wong said. “I think it’s critically important that council speaks as one voice to say that what he’s done is wrong.”

There is no formal mechanism for council to remove Ford, making Minnan-Wong’s motion a largely symbolic one.

Seeking intervention from the province would set a significant precedent and would likely be a tough sell with the provincial government, particularly at a time when London, Ont., Mayor Joe Fontana is facing fraud charges.

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The city clerk’s office has deemed the motion, which calls on Ford to “apologize for misleading the City of Toronto as to the existence of a video in which he appears to be involved in the use of drugs,” as “a matter of council’s privilege.” That means the motion does not have to receive approval from two-thirds of council before it can be debated.

The motion also urges Ford to “co-operate fully” with police in their investigation by submitting to questioning and apologize for writing a letter of reference on official letterhead for alleged drug dealer Alexander “Sandro” Lisi.

Ford appeared steadfast in his resolve to stay in his post on Monday, donning the chain of office for the well-attended Remembrance Day address.

The mayor’s short speech began with a few tense moments, when someone in the crowd began to boo and another shouted “Shame!” But the crowd was no mood for heckling and they were quickly silenced.

Ford thanked Canada’s soldiers past and present and acknowledged the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean War. Ford vowed to “never, ever, ever” forget those who died.

“Today we remember those who have served Canada so valiantly in times of need,” Ford said.

He shook hands with supporters on his way back to city hall, and promised not to step aside.

Meanwhile, confusion erupted over whether Ford would be participating in another upcoming public event — this Sunday's Santa Claus parade.

Parade co-chair Ron Barbaro said Ford’s chief of staff, Earl Provost, said last week that the mayor “won’t be marching in the parade.”

However, minutes after Barbaro spoke to the Star, Ford’s spokesman, Amin Massoudi, insisted otherwise.

“The mayor will be participating in the parade, as he does every year. The details are still coming together,” Massoudi said in a text message.

A Ford staffer told CityTV the mayor wants to hand out twice as many candy canes as he did last year.

With files from Robyn Doolittle and Daniel Dale

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