After two months in rehab, Mayor Rob Ford has emerged to ask voters for forgiveness and another chance.
In so doing, he said things he has never said before, consistent with someone sincerely trying to recover from addiction.
The first is his admission he is addicted to alcohol and drugs.
The second is his realization he will be an addict for the rest of his life, regardless of whether he succeeds in living clean and sober from now on, or relapses and has to start over again.
The third is he accepts he alone is responsible for the reckless things he has done and the vile things he has said under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
Fourth, he’s aware there are “triggers” which cause him to use alcohol and drugs that he must avoid.
Finally, Ford has begun the process of apologizing to those he has harmed, although public apologies like the one he offered mayoral candidate Karen Stintz for his misogynistic remarks about her, are only part of the healing process for an addict.
Equally important is to apologize personally to those one has harmed, regardless of whether they accept that apology.
It’s not up to the media, or council, or Ford’s opponents in the mayoral race, to decide if Ford should be re-elected as mayor. That’s up to the people of Toronto.
But in our view, the most credible sign Ford fully understands the nature of his addiction, would have been for him to announce his resignation on Monday.
By staying on and campaigning for re-election for the next four months, Ford has plunged himself back into a public and political pressure cooker.
That greatly increases the chances he will relapse into addiction and with it, the irresponsible behaviours he has exhibited as an addict, including lying, consorting with criminals and making racist, homophobic and misogynistic remarks.
Even if Ford wins on Oct. 27 — and polling shows it’s possible — he has so alienated council, his agenda of fiscal restraint will be impossible to implement.
On a human level, we wish Ford well as he begins his life-long battle against addiction.
But on a political level, we do not believe he should be the mayor of Toronto.
we don't want to be associated with him
