Daily BrewToronto Star reporter calls Rob Ford a liar, considering lawsuit
A Toronto Star reporter is considering legal action after Mayor Rob Ford made allusions to him as a sexual deviant during a recent interview and doubled down by refusing to clarify his statement or offer an apology.
Ford has long maintained that the media was part of a conspiracy out to get him, and that has left a reporter unfairly and untruthfully smeared as a "pedophile" in a quandary about how to clear his name.
The Toronto Star's Daniel Dale was dragged back into Ford's mud pile this week when the mayor told Conrad Black in an interview that Dale was caught on his property, taking pictures of his children.
“I have little kids. When a guy’s taking pictures of little kids, I don’t want to say that word but you start thinking, ‘What’s this guy all about?’”
Asked yesterday about his allegations, Ford told reporters that he stood by "every word" and refused to apologize.
[ More Brew: Rob Ford makes allegation against Toronto Star reporter ]
Ford was referring to a 2012 incident in which he confronted Dale in a public park near his house. Dale says he was at the site to collect information for a story about Ford's unusual request to purchase the plot of public property.
Ford claims Dale was both on his property and on the other side of the fence, standing on bricks taking pictures into his back yard. Dale has maintained that he was nowhere near Ford's property line, took only one photo of the land (which did not save) and had no interaction with Ford's children. A police investigation turned up no unlawful behaviour.
On Wednesday, the Star published a story by Dale accusing Ford of lying and intentionally smearing his name.
It’s what just about everybody knows he insinuated. It’s the word that people are already attaching to my name in emails and Twitter posts. It’s the word that will now come up every time a prospective interviewee or new acquaintance Googles me.
It’s false. It’s malicious. It’s defamatory. It’s mind-boggling. It’s damn gross.
Dale says he had been advised that he could sue Ford for libel. The only problem is that Ford has joyfully politicized his strained relationship with the Star. Blaming the media has become catnip for his supporters. And anything Dale does to clear his name will be painted by Ford as another attack by the newspaper.
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"[I]f I were a businessman or teacher or anything other than a Toronto Star reporter, I would have served Ford with a libel notice already," Dale wrote. "I’m cautious because I don’t like being or staying the centre of attention, because I like my life the way it is, because it would be tiresome to listen to Ford’s claims of a vendetta, and because it seems like it would probably be unpleasant to find yourself in a long public spat with a wealthy and generally unrepentant person with good lawyers and a big megaphone."
The Star's editor Michael Cooke has said they will support Dale if he chooses to sue. Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly says Ford's comments were "beyond the pale" and that he should apologize.
But Ford remains unrepentant, gleeful to have dragged municipal politics to another low, and spoiling for a fight.
This leaves Dale weighing his desire for justice against the damage it would cause. That's not a fair place for Dale to find himself.
