TORONTO

I call it as I see it, Mr. Mayor, and will continue to do so.

No matter how mad you get at me.

And in an unsolicited call to my cellular at about 6 p.m. Sunday, Mayor Rob Ford clearly indicated how irate he is.

It was not a robocall, but Ford live and furious.

"I am so f------ mad at you right now," he screamed, berating me over the line.

When I told him "I don't care," he became even more enraged.

He said "I am so f----- -angry" several times as I stepped away from the dinner table to take the surprise call.

It seems he was upset about my Thursday column.

In it, I called him out for what I thought was an unfair lambasting of a city employee caught in a picture appearing to be asleep--particularly when he himself has been embroiled in many controversies.

He took offence.

It seemed he was particularly upset about references to mentioning "Garrison Ball-gate and ass-gate."

He was fuming, profane and belligerent.

"Don't write lies," he said. "You know that stuff is lies. You know I wasn't drunk at the Garrison Ball and that I didn't grab that woman's ass."

I wasn't at either event. I don't know what transpired.

But what I have written and said in the past is I have seen no proof of either and have spoken to many people personally who claim they did not see impropriety by the mayor at either.

For context, Ford said he was angry about the following which I wrote last week:

"I don't want to hear these excuses," Ford said of the apparently snoozing worker at the Carmine Stefano Community Centre in Etobicoke. "Really? No proof or explanation? No compassion? No one is allowed to have a bad day? No second chances?

Do you want us to apply that same standard to you, Mr. Mayor?"

In the future, or perhaps retroactively to hockey-game-gate, Garrison Ball-gate, Ass-gate, TTC bus-gate, robo-gate?"

My point was that would he want the same standard applied to him on those things that he and Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti seemed to apply to the city worker?

Fair comment on my part.

And fair comment for the mayor to disagree.

But he needs to know that I will, as a columnist, continue to report and write my view of things no matter who calls or how threatening or intimidating they are.

It was the second agitated call in a couple of weeks from the mayor.

The last one was after his Texas trip where he said people inside his office were upset with me for calling him and getting some quotes on the Alexander "Sandro" Lisi arrest and "I want to give you the heads up that they are going to call your boss."

I let it go.

I did speak with his staff and they said there was no problem with me and there was no consideration about a call to a superior.

I did mention to them that the mayor does routinely telephone me --even after telling me to not call him directly.

But in Sunday's call, the mayor indicated it was more than just him perturbed.

"I am not the only one that is pissed at you," he said. "There are others."

Not knowing what that meant, I asked him if I should consider myself in any danger?

After some back and forth between Ford and I, the mayor said: "I am going to hang up before I say something I regret."

He also said that I should "join the Toronto Star" and that in the future "I will do interviews with someone else."

I teased him to try his luck with the Star's Kevin Donovan.

I explained to him that I thought it was not cool for a mayor to politically take down a city worker with no facts presented and that I expected more from him and that I often have stuck by him when others did something like that to him.

"I can fight my own battles," he said. Fair enough. He hung up.

I debated whether to laugh off the call, but in light of all the on-going issues with the mayor, I decided it should be reported.

It's particularly poignant and newsworthy to me since his fury comes on the heels of a suggestion that a staffer and supervisor be fired and the robocall to Councillor Paul Ainslie's ward.

In the future, I will continue to report or comment on what I see fit and will not back down from any perceived pressure.

If Mayor Ford is unfairly piled on, I will report that. When he calls me or I speak with him, I will report that, as well.