What the mayor’s been up to this week.
Monday, May 21, 9:30 p.m. Western edge of Ashbridges Bay Park.
Meets Prince Charles and Camilla, and takes in the Victoria Day fireworks with them, Premier Dalton McGuinty, and brother Doug Ford. Isaac Ransom, the mayor’s communications assistant, accidentally tweets out (and then promptly deletes) a photo of a candid moment.
Wednesday, May 23, evening. Exhibition Place.
Watches the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies take on the Oklahoma City Barons at Ricoh Coliseum, then walks a couple blocks west to see Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC take on the Vancouver Whitecaps FC at BMO Field. “And that was a good crowd, too,” he later observes on his radio show. ”People said, you know, the soccer games are wild, [but] they were well-behaved; I was pleasantly surprised.”
Friday, May 25, 12:30 p.m.Underneath the Gardiner Expressway, at Lower Simcoe Street and Lake Shore Boulevard.
Inspects the underside of the Gardiner Expressway, as City workers chip away loose pieces of concrete before they have the chance to crumble on their own. According to the National Post, the mayor expresses concern for the nearby Bixi station: ”Oh my god, I never want to hurt a bike. That’s the last thing I want to do, precious little bikes.”
Friday, May 25, 8 p.m. Mother’s house, near Royal York and Lawrence.
Holds a hastily-organized 43rd birthday party at his family estate. Sources say it was held on the backyard deck and featured Pizzaville pizza, chicken fingers, shrimp skewers, and two giant Costco birthdays cakes with icing balloons. Waiters were hired to walk around and serve the Costco/Pizzaville food, and the full basement wet bar was available. In addition to the mayor’s staff and many city councillors, guests apparently included: Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) chair Paul Godfrey, who has been actively advocating for a Toronto casino in recent months (but, as a representative of a provincial crown corporation, is exempt from the provisions of the City’s lobbying bylaw); councillor-turned-lobbyist Chris Korwin-Kuczynski; former MP and one-time mayoral candidate John Nunziata, accompanying his sister, Councillor Frances Nunziata; Michael Kraljevic, the president and CEO of the Toronto Port Lands Company; CTV reporter Alicia Kay-Markson; Newstalk 1010′s Jerry Agar; and Liberal MPP Glen Murray (Toronto Centre), with a member of his staff. When Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam first received an invitation, she was unsure whether she wanted to make the Friday-afternoon schlep to Etobicoke. “And then the mayor’s staff called my office,” she says, “and then the mayor’s staff dropped by my office, and then when I walked by the mayor’s office, one of his staff asked me, ‘Councillor, are you coming?’” Impressed by their efforts to reach out to her, she agreed to attend, and was glad that she did. “We finally had a very warm and genuine conversation,” she says of her talk with the mayor that night. “It was the very first time I felt like we actually connected—not over politics, just as two people.” Councillor Shelley Carroll, on the other hand, felt pressured into going to the event. “I hadn’t RSVP’d,” she says. “And then in the middle of all these interviews [about the mayor's absence from City Hall], they were interviewing Doug, and Doug told the Sun, ‘I don’t know why she’s being so mean to Rob this week, she’s going to his birthday party.’ He RSVP’d me against my will. So I was kind of stuck.”
Saturday, May 26, 1:30 p.m. Heathy Living Plus, just north of Bloor Street West, west of Royal York.
Attends the grand opening of a new health food store on the Kingsway. He was there “not too long, maybe about half an hour or something,” says employee Ali Ramadan, who also mentions that the mayor gave them a scroll. Did he buy anything at the store? Did he seem interested? “No, he was just in, just talking to people, making an appearance.”
Saturday, May 26, 4:45 p.m. Centennial Park.
Poses for a photo with some stoned teenagers.
Saturday, May 26, 10:30 p.m. McDonald’s, Kipling Avenue, north of Rexdale Boulevard.
Takes his kids on a late-night excursion to McDonald’s. “Why the fuck was Rob Ford in McDicks on Kipling?” tweets @sdotkamyllah. “The dirty look he did receive. Lookin’ at me like I’m spose to bow or sumn. … taking your young kids to McDonalds at 10:30PM? Aren’t you supposed to be losing weight lol I’m not understanding this.” Others present have very similar reactions.
Sunday, May 27, 1:50 p.m. Newstalk 1010 studios, Yonge and St. Clair.
Says he’s given up on his diet.”I don’t even care about the weigh-in, I’m not even dieting anymore!” he says in response to his brother’s teasing about birthday cake and having skipped recent weigh-ins. “It’s gone, it’s water under the bridge.” On the following day’s episode of The Live Drive with John Tory, he states that this is not in fact the case and claims his original remarks were “taken out of context.” (Hear the original context starting at 28:30 in this mp3.)
