Doug Ford on Netflix documentary about brother: 'Poor Rob's been dead for 9 years.... Leave the guy alone'
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has commented on a Netflix documentary about his late brother and former mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford.
“They’re disgusting people,” he said, referring to the filmmakers, at a news conference on Tuesday. “Poor Rob’s been dead for nine years and they just want to keep going after him. I talked to one person that saw it. It’s just disgusting. Leave the guy alone. Let him rest in peace. Let his family rest in peace.”
The premier said that he would not be watching the documentary, entitled Trainwreck: Mayor of Mayhem. It was released on the streaming service in Canada on June 17. The 49-minute film covers Rob’s rise to prominence as a politician, from city councillor to mayor, in Canada’s largest city.
Despite having the support of many of the city’s residents, Rob was a polarizing figure.
As his former staffer Tom Beyer described it in the film, there were often two reactions when people saw him driving Rob’s campaign bus on the streets while he was running for mayor. “People would be waving and cheering, and others would be giving me the finger,” said Beyer. “There was no middle ground.”
Rob was elected mayor in 2010. In the first year of his mayoralty, he was “able to get his agenda passed,” city councillor Josh Matlow said in the documentary. “He was ticking off, piece by piece, his plan to make the city work and end the waste,” said Mark Towhey, Rob’s former chief of staff.
However, Rob was also known for making off the cuff remarks to the media and in city hall’s council chambers. He was accused of inappropriate behaviour while intoxicated, including showing up at a gala while drunk , confronting a couple at a Maple Leafs game, and drinking in his City Hall office on St. Patrick’s Day in 2012 . Photos and videos allegedly showing him inebriated surfaced many times during his mayoralty, according to media reports at the time, which prompted him to either deny wrongdoings, or in some cases, apologize.
The situation became more dire in 2013 when reports circulated that there was a video of Rob smoking crack cocaine out of a glass pipe. He denied the drug use at first, but later, in November of that year, admitted to it.
“Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine,” he told reporters. “Do I? Am I an addict? No.”
He said it was possible he had tried the drug in one of his “drunken stupors.”
The documentary follows the subsequent fallout from the admission, as well as Rob’s fatal battle with cancer. He died in March 2016.
“Let his family rest in peace,” said Doug on Tuesday. “It absolutely infuriates me, to be honest with you. They want the truth, talk to the real people that absolutely love him. I’ll leave it at that.”
The office of the premier told National Post that his remarks made on Tuesday stand as his response to the documentary.
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