I don't know for certain whether this is true or not.
I tend to be skeptical of the video.
The story never made sense to me.
A basically up-and-up politician smokes crack with Somali dealers and allows himself to be filmed?.
Let's suppose you had a crack habit and your job depended on you keeping it secret. Would you allowed yourself to be filmed?
Now, maybe, he did, uh, crack under the pressure. Wouldn't he show signs of drug addiction? Crack is highly addictive. Crack users are typically thin. Crack users aren't known for holding down a job. Now maybe his entourage is covering for him but... would you cover for a crack user?
The more I hash out this story in my mind, the more it doesn't make sense to me.
It's also plausible, and even likely, that these Somali drug dealers are trying to con people. I remCrack video owners have gone silent... do you think they were bribed, bullied or scared by youknowwho?ember Ezra Levant used a very convincing look-a-like for skit he did with Rob Ford. (Sorry couldn't find video.) So perhaps there was an attempt to fabricate this story.
And then there's this: filmmakers looking for a Ford look-alike.
In any event, the way this story was set up, it's a big fail. Paying off drug dealers? Tipsters going incommunicado?
It looks very shady. It may turn out it was true but... the Toronto Star really had to go into the gutter to get this story. If it is true, you don't need a video. There are almost certainly other people in the know.
UPDATE: The plot thickens. Chief of Staff fired for telling mayor to get help.
UPDATE: Sarah Thomson writes on her facebook: "Crack video owners have gone silent... do you think they were bribed, bullied or scared by youknowwho?"
UPDATE: Mark Hasiuk has also picked up on how shady this all is.
This is a pathetic apology for Ford. It doesn't matter if the mayor is on drugs. What are you on...crack? It's one thing to say the story is fake, quite another to defend the guy if he's getting high, even if he does do it in private. What politicians do in private matters! It shows their character. I will not trust a drug addict. Isn't this common sense?
UPDATE May 24th 9:41 am.
National Post:
The source suspects the problem is alcohol-related. The mayor had denied a report in March that suggested he has a problem with alcohol as an “outright lie.” When asked to comment on the alleged reasons for Mr. Towhey’s departure, George Christopoulos, the mayor’s press secretary, said the office does not comment on personnel matters.
