Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Apologizes For ‘Mistakes,’ But Won’t Resign

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford apologized on Sunday for being “hammered” in public and acknowledged he has made mistakes. However, Ford said he will remain at his job, despite mounting pressure to resign.

The mayor made the comments on his local weekly radio show amid growing pressure to step down. Most of the pressure stems from a video that appears to show Ford puffing on a crack cocaine pipe.

Police announced this week that they have the tape, but the mayor didn’t make any comments about it or its contents, reports USA Today. He explained that he can’t comment on a tape he has yet to see.

Rob Ford told listeners, “I just got to maybe slow down on my drinking,” But that he will “ride the storm out,” explaining that there is no way he will resign or take a leave of absence.

Ford’s comments came one day after he met with Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly, who wanted to express concerns of city council members after news of the video tape emerged, notes The Miami Herald.

Allegations that Ford was videotaped smoking cocaine surfaced in May when two reporters with the Toronto Star and one from Gawker said they saw the video but weren’t given a copy. Police Chief Bill Blair announced on Thursday that he was “disappointed” in Ford’s behavior, but that the video didn’t provide grounds to charge him.

Despite the lack of substantial evidence, all four major Toronto newspapers called on Rob Ford to resign. Many city council members and the Toronto Board of Trade also called for him to step down. Instead, Ford says that police should release the video, that way the public knows what it is so upset about. He explained, “Whatever this video shows, Toronto residents deserve to see it and people need to judge for themselves what they see on this video.”

Police have said that the video will come out when Ford’s associate and occasional driver, who had the video, goes to trial on drug and extortion charges.

[Image via Wikimedia Commons]