TORONTO — Toronto Mayor Rob Ford admitted during a heated City Council debate Wednesday that he bought illegal drugs in the past two years, but he refused to step down even after nearly every councilor stood up to ask him to take a leave of absence.
The mayor made the admission under direct questioning by a former ally, Councilor Denzil Minnan-Wong. Ford publicly acknowledged last week that he smoked crack cocaine while in a “drunken stupor” last year, but his comments Wednesday marked the first time he acknowledged buying illegal drugs.
Ford paused for a long time after Minnan-Wong asked him whether he had bought illicit narcotics in the past two years. Ford finally replied, “Yes, I have.”
He added: “I understand the embarrassment that I have caused. I am humiliated by it.”
Ford then turned defiant, saying he was not an addict and rebuffing suggestions from council members that he seek help. He insisted he was a “positive role model for kids who are down and out.”
“I’m most definitely keeping this job,” he said.
Ford later suggested that many council members are on drugs and they all know stories about one another, but added he’s “not a rat.”
