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Toronto Mayor Rob Ford calls media “maggots” and councillors “unemployable”

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford calls media “maggots” and councillors “unemployable”

You give a guy a pulpit and he'll use it.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford took to the airwaves on Sunday and issued an all-out assault on members of the media and city council as he faces calls to resign following allegations he was videotaped smoking from a crack pipe.

Ford and his brother, Coun. Doug Ford, both face separate allegations surrounding drug use and weren't shy about using their Newstalk 1010 radio program to point blame at others across the city.

Rob Ford was less direct about addressing the allegations themselves. He started the show by complaining about the attention paid to the allegations made by the Toronto Star and Gawker, after reporters viewed a video allegedly showing him smoke from a crack pipe within the last six months.

“This is all ridiculous. No matter what you say, I found out to the media, you are never going to make them happy. You could give them 10 bars of gold and they could say, ‘why don’t I get 15 bars of gold.’”

Ford then called members of the media a "bunch of maggots." He followed that up by saying members of city council were "unemployable."

[ Related: Doug Ford denies Globe report that he dealt hashish in 80s ]

Ford took heat from the public after attempting to ignore the allegations for more than a week after dismissing them as "ridiculous." He was finally forced to address the public after members of his inner circle issued a public request for him to come forward.

"I do not smoke crack cocaine and I am not addicted to crack cocaine," Ford said on Friday. He did not address his history with drugs on Friday or during his Sunday radio program.

When a caller asked directly whether it is Ford seen in the video reported on by Gawker and the Star, Ford sidestepped the question.

"There is no video, so that's all I can say. You can't comment on something that doesn't exist," he said.

An article in the Globe and Mail on Saturday alleged that Doug Ford was a big-time dealer of hashish in his youth. He was quick to reject those accusations and claimed suggestions that he dealt drugs in Etobicoke was an outright lie. "I was not a dealer of hashish in the 1980s," he said.

Doug Ford admitted to smoking hash during that time, but said he no longer does drugs or even drinks.

[ More Brew: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford finally denies using crack cocaine ]

The Ford brothers spoke on a couple of other issues that have come to light over the past week, including the firing of Ford's chief of staff and being removed as a volunteer coach of a Toronto Catholic high school.

Here is what they said:

On the firing of chief of staff Mark Towhey, reportedly dismissed after telling the mayor to "seek help," Rob Ford said they would not discuss personnel moves but wished him luck in the private sector. "The guy is a warrior," Doug Ford added.

On Ford being dismissed as the coach of the Don Bosco Eagles, Ford said he wished the kids luck in the future. When asked if he would coach again, he said: "If a school comes along and offers me a job somewhere, I'll consider it."

On a vote that killed the idea of building a casino in downtown Toronto, or expanding gaming at Woodbine Racetrack, Ford read out the names of those who voted against the plan and accused them of "playing politics."

On his focus for the next election (in 2014), Ford said resurrected old promises, vowing to cut the land transfer tax by 10 per cent and said he wants to cut the size of council from 44 members to 22. "The less people you have down there, the quicker you get things done," Doug Ford added.

On whether the Fords felt they have done anything wrong, Doug Ford said, "call the election. Let's get rolling. There is only one way to resolve any issue: Go to the people, let the people have their voice."