Rob Ford libel case resumes today
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford returned to court Monday for the last day of his trial in a $6-million defamation lawsuit against him.
Lawyers for Ford, the businessman suing him and another man being sued by the businessman for libel are making their closing arguments on Monday.
Restaurant owner George Foulidis is alleging Ford defamed him when the mayor suggested a leasing deal between Foulidis's company Tuggs Inc. and the city was corrupt and that it "stinks to high heaven."
Toronto city council extended a 20-year lease Foulidis had for his Boardwalk Cafe restaurant on public land in a sole-sourced, untendered contract for another 20 years in the summer of 2010 — the middle of Ford's ultimately successful campaign to become mayor.
The mayor is arguing that he was talking about the company, not Foulidis himself, and that companies can't be defamed.
Ford testified Friday and didn't back down from the controversial comments, saying the sole-sourced deal "doesn't smell right" and that the police should launch an investigation.
