Councillor Doug Ford says Mayor Rob Ford does not have a problem with alcohol. Another councillor says “it has been known at City Hall for quite a while that he may have a drinking problem.”

Sarah Doucette, a left-leaning councillor known for her cheerful nature — the Fords have hosted her on their radio show, and Doug Ford calls her one of his favourite councillors — said other councillors have reported, “for at least a year,” seeing Ford appearing intoxicated at “festivals, galas, and other evening events.”

She said she has not personally seen Ford appear impaired, and she would not identify the other councillors of the specific events; she said only that they include “summer street festivals” in 2012. But she urged Ford to “stop denying and get help.”

“We didn’t go to the news with it,” Doucette said of herself and her left-leaning colleagues. “We didn’t want to go to the news with this because we would’ve been accused of being lefties picking on the mayor. But in some respects, I wish this had gotten out earlier, because if he needs help, please do it now.”

She added: “The people he is hurting the most are his wife and his children. Forget about the city at this point; think about his wife and children. Secondly, yes, it could interfere with his job, and he’s the mayor of a big city. We need him, 100 per cent, at all times, representing us.”

The Star reported Tuesday that the mayor has struggled with alcohol abuse, has been encouraged by his staff to enter a rehabilitation program, and was asked to leave a major gala event last month over concerns that he was intoxicated.

Doug Ford vehemently denied that his brother has any substance abuse issue. Rob Ford did not address most of the specifics of the Star’s article — his press secretary said he was not asked to leave the gala — but he called the article “an outright lie.”

“It’s just lies after lies and lies and I’ve called you pathological liars and you are so why don’t you take me to court,” Ford said after a ceremony in which he presented a key to the city to retired boxer George Chuvalo. “Let the courts decide. It’s about George Chuvalo today. Have some respect.”

Several of Ford’s allies said they have never seen him appear intoxicated.

“Never,” said Councillor Gary Crawford, who said he was “surprised” by the Star story. “From my perspective, any event that I’ve been to with the mayor whether public or private, I’ve never seen any of that at all.”

“No, I’ve never seen any evidence of that personally,” said Councillor Frank Di Giorgio, the newly appointed budget chief. “In any of the meetings I’ve ever been involved with him or out on occasions, I’ve never seen him inebriated. I’ve never seen him take a drink to be honest.”

Di Giorgio said, however, that “obviously there may be some factual evidence to the story.”

“I don’t think people would print stories without some kind of evidence. But it’s a matter of degree, whether the mayor was drunk or whether he had had a few drinks,” he said.

Councillor Paul Ainslie, a close ally of Ford, told the Star that he encouraged Ford’s chief of staff to have Ford leave the gala event, the Toronto Garrison Ball, in February. He would not explain why.

Ainslie, who was at the Cedarbrae library branch in Scarborough on Tuesday morning for the release of a new early literacy guide, said in an interview afterward that he had not spoken with anyone about the story after it was published.

“My phone started ringing at six o'clock in the morning, and I turned it off,” he said. He said he did not want to comment any further.

Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday said he has never seen the mayor take a drink or appear impaired at any event. Asked what he thinks of the Star article, he said, “Well, I don’t know. The Star has its sources, and certainly, anything that comes up about the mayor makes front page in the Star. So I guess we can take it for what it is.”

He added: “I guess it’s just a never-ending thing that seems to happen with the mayor that every day we wake up there’s a new story. Some of them seem to have credibility and some of them don’t. I guess we’re going to have to wait and see on this one.”

Holyday said he doesn’t know if Ford was asked to leave the gala, or any details about the evening, but does not believe the Star’s reporting. He said Ford is “shy,” and sometimes “doesn’t seem to adapt to it well” when he is in a group setting.

Six people who attended the gala provided accounts of the mayor’s behaviour on condition of anonymity. They told the Star that Ford was “incoherent,” “stumbling,” “rambling,” “intoxicated,” “slurring,” “seemed to be drunk,” and “was nervous, excited, sweaty, out of it.”

Three members of the organizing committee said Ford was asked to leave because he appeared impaired. One said, “He seemed either drunk, high or had a medical condition.”

Mark McQueen, the chair of the Toronto Port Authority and the co-chair of the event, said he saw no reason Ford would have been asked to leave. A real estate agent who was in attendance said Ford did not seem impaired when she spoke with him briefly.

Holyday said, “I think the story would have a lot more credibility, first off, if it had the names of the individuals making the accusations attached to it.”

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Doug Ford suggested that his brother, who has faced a series of expensive legal battles, will not sue the Star over the story.

“Johnny, that’s their plan,” he told Oakley. “They want to drag us into another lawsuit and then it’s going to be about Rob Ford suing the Star for the next two years.”

At Queen’s Park, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak, a political ally of the mayor, chose his words carefully when responding to questions about the Ford revelations.

“I have nothing to add to the Star story today,” Hudak told reporters.

“I can simply judge the mayor by the results he’s achieved. He’s actually reduced spending at city hall. That’s an accomplishment I’d like to see here in the province of Ontario. He got affordable deals with the unions and actually has helped to reduce all the runaway spending we saw at city hall under the previous government. I’ll judge him by his results.”

Asked if he had “ever seen any sign” of the behaviour outlined in the Star, Hudak said: “Listen, I have nothing to add to the story.”

Privately, several senior Conservatives said Tuesday that they were not surprised by the front-page account of Ford’s drinking.

“People are worried about him. This is a health issue,” said one Tory. Another confided that Ford’s friends have long expressed concern that his personal activities may be affecting his job.

With files from Robert Benzie, Paul Moloney, and Kris Rushowy

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