TORONTO

Mayor Rob Ford's popularity got a boost from recent controversies, results of a new poll suggested Friday.

The Forum Research poll pegs Ford’s job approval rating at 49% — up almost 10% from two weeks ago.

The boost comes after a week of controversy swirling around whether or not the mayor of Canada’s largest city is battling a drinking problem and was allegedly asked to leave a military gala for being intoxicated.

Ford himself has vehemently denied the original Toronto Star story on the drinking allegations while Councillor Paul Ainslie has stood by his claim he asked the mayor’s chief of staff to remove him from the event.

Almost half ( 49%) of the Forum poll respondents said they approve of the job Ford is doing as mayor while 50% disapprove and 1% said they don’t know.

“The mayor’s on a roll,” Forum president Lorne Bozinoff told the Toronto Sun Friday. “It’s high for him but things have been sort of breaking his way lately.”

Bozinoff said Ford’s fumbles don’t seem to sack his approval ratings.

“It seems to be unless it is really related to city business, I don’t think people care,” he said. “People have been very forgiving.”

He pointed out Ford’s message of efficiencies and keeping taxes in line is on the rise across the country.

“There is a lot of feeling that taxes are too high and government is not delivering the services for the money,” Bozinoff said.

Ford made headlines earlier this week when he pretended to vomit at the mention of Metrolinx’s short list of 11 possible taxes and tolls to fund transit.

“That’s how people are reacting to some of those ideas,” Bozinoff said. “(Ford) comes right out and tells you where he stands, he doesn’t have to think about it — just right off the bat he reacted to that Metrolinx stuff.”

Bozinoff said within the 49% who approve of the job Ford is doing there is a “small group” who have said they won’t vote for him again in the 2014 election.

“It’s a few percentage points but he’s going to start off (in 2014) with 40% of the vote right off the bat,” he said. “If there were two people running, he’d need 50% ... he’s not that far away.”

But another controversy hit Friday when CBC News revealed the mayor’s parking habits at City Hall — obtained through a Freedom of Information request — show between December 2010 and mid-2012 he only spent four hours at the building on weekdays he showed up at the office.

Councillor Michael Thompson shrugged off the report and stressed Ford is out meeting with residents regularly including those in his own ward.

“What I know of the mayor, he’s working hard ... the mayor is the people’s mayor,” Thompson said.

Thompson, a member of Ford’s executive committee, agreed the mayor should make his schedule public.

“I would encourage the mayor to certainly provide more information on his schedule,” he said.

Councillor Doug Ford defended his brother’s work ethic.

“I didn’t see eye to eye with David Miller at all, that guy worked his ass off and Rob works his ass off,” Ford said. “You can’t not work, you just can’t not work, you have no choice.”

The telephone poll was conducted by interactive voice response and surveyed 484 Toronto residents. Forum considers the results accurate +/- 4%, 19 times out of 20.