News Digest

Still in it: Toronto’s crack-smoking mayor might win reelection

Despite new revelations about his conduct as a high school football coach, including an alleged threat of physical assault against a teacher, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford appears to still have a chance at being re-elected to his post. The Toronto Catholic District School Board on Thursday released internal documents comprising more than 120 emails and letters claiming various new improprietied, including that Ford threatened a teacher at Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School, where Ford coached; that he showed up to football practice “visibly inebriated;” made his teenage players roll around in goose scat and called them rude and profane names; and held practice before the start of the 2012 school year in violation of school and provincial athletics rules, with a student athlete breaking his collarbone that day.

He kept repeating ‘I will kick your ass, F you, you’re a p—-y. I run this program not you.’

Ugo Rossi, Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School Principal in the Toronto Star

But despite the latest scandal involving the embattled mayor, a Forum Research poll released on Thursday puts Ford comfortably in second place, behind John Tory. Ford is also the only one of the top three candidates to expand his base of support since fifth-placed candidate Karen Stintz dropped out of the race last week. According to the survey, Tory leads the race between the top three candidates with 36 per cent support, followed by Ford at 31 per cent and former frontrunner Olivia Chow at 26 per cent.