INFAMOUS Toronto mayor Rob Ford looks set to be stripped of his remaining powers tomorrow after months of publicity surrounding his excessive drinking, admitted use of crack cocaine and sexually explicit outbursts.
The city council voted on Friday to strip Ford of his authority to appoint and dismiss the deputy mayor and his executive committee, a move that Ford has vowed to challenge in court.
It will now attempt to remove the rest of his powers tomorrow, including control over his office budget and the ability to appoint the deputy mayor to lead his executive committee.
The council's latest attempt to rein in Ford, by making him a mayor in name only, follows months of scandal which has been the talk of Canada's largest city - and captured the imagination of the world.
The mayor has refused to resign despite admitting to using crack cocaine while in office, buying illegal drugs and drink-driving. He has also been accused of making sexual advances towards a female staff member.
However, the city council has no authority to remove him and Ford has made it clear he intends to seek re-election next year.
Last week he stirred up further controversy when he made an obscene outburst on live television while denying he had offered oral sex to a female staff member.
Recently released court documents show the mayor was the subject of a police investigation after news reports surfaced in May that he had been caught on video smoking crack cocaine.
In interviews with police, former members of staff accused the mayor of frequently drinking, driving while intoxicated and making sexual advances toward a female staff member.
Ford, 44, made a profanity-laced statement about the allegations on Thursday. He spouted an obscenity while denying that he pressured a female employee for oral sex, saying on live television that he was "happily married", and using crude language to assert that he enjoys enough oral sex at home.
He also managed to incur the wrath of Toronto's Canadian Football League side, the Argonauts, by wearing a team jersey when he made the sexually charged comments.
It has been a stunning decline for the mayor, who was elected three years ago with overwhelming support from Toronto's conservative-leaning suburbs, where many voters felt angry about what they considered wasteful spending and elitist politics at City Hall.
Ford's swiftly changing moods were on full display on Friday as he defiantly vowed to fight the motion to strip him of some powers in court, then conceded he understood why the council took the measures.
In a flash of remorse, he said: "If I would have had a mayor conducting themselves the way I have, I would have done exactly the same thing. I'm not mad at anybody. I take full responsibility."
But the mayor, a conservative who touts his efforts to curb public spending and keep taxes low, later made it clear he intends to seek re-election next year.
"Councillors spoke today. The taxpayers of this great city will have their say," he told a crush of reporters at City Hall, referring to next year's municipal elections. Nearby, a few hecklers shouted: "Resign!"
Ford said he did not care that many council members were laughing at him, noting he won a large mandate in the 2010 election and was laughed at for years as a councillor before being elected mayor.
"They laughed at me for 13 years but fortunately 387,000 people never laughed at me. We'll see what happens," the mayor added.
Ford's lawyer, Dennis Morris, accused the council of attempting an illegal coup and said Ford had hired a municipal law expert, George Rust-D'Eye, to challenge it.
"Council clearly has the power to amend or appeal its own bylaws, but at the same time it doesn't have the legal power to restrict the statutory responsibilities of the mayor of Toronto," Rust-D'Eye said.
Ford's brother and adviser, councillor Doug Ford, called him "the mayor of the people" and said the rights of those who voted for him were being trampled.
The vote on Friday capped a week featuring a series of antics that outraged city councillors.
On Thursday, many city councillors turned their back in protest every time Ford stood to speak during a council meeting, after the mayor admitted to driving drunk.
Ford has said he is seeking medical help, but has declined to provide any details.
Although the mayor has admitted to excessive drinking and using and buying illegal drugs, he and his family insist he is not an addict and does not need to enter rehab.
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