"I don't remember" 89 times: Rob Ford grilled

The Toronto Star:

Mayor Rob Ford thought he could be in a conflict of interest only if the item he was voting on benefited the city, and had no knowledge of a handbook city staff gave him and other council members that explains conflicts. 

That’s according to remarks recorded in a transcript (click here for PDF or scroll down) of a closed-door June 27 deposition by lawyer Clayton Ruby, who will give him another grilling — in open court this time — on Wednesday during a three-day conflict of interest hearing.

If the lawsuit launched by resident Paul Magder is successful, Ford would be automatically kicked out of office unless the judge deems his actions inadvertent or an error of judgment, or the sum involved “insignificant.” 

Ford also told Ruby he voted to spare himself from paying back donations to his foundation, which gives football equipment to schools, because the foundation is “fantastic” and “saves kids’ lives.” Asked if he regretted his actions for even a moment, Ford replied: “Absolutely not.”

But the mayor was much less emphatic about many other things, including his first vote on the issue, in December 2010, and when it returned to council last February because he had failed to repay, as ordered, $3,150 in improperly solicited donations by lobbyists, their clients and a business.

During the roughly three-hour deposition, Ford replied “I don’t recall,” or “I don’t remember” a total of 89 times, prompting a chiding from Ruby about his “memory problem.”

Ford initially suggested he relied on city legal staff to alert him if he was in a possible conflict of interest, and said they did not do that in February.

Ford — a councillor for 10 years before he was elected mayor in late 2010 — told Ruby he couldn’t recall ever receiving the handbook that city staff give all council members at the beginning of each council term.

It states members have a duty not to participate in the decision-making process on an item in which they have a “direct or indirect pecuniary interest.” It doesn’t matter whether the issue at hand benefits the city.

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