Hours before events of inebriated video, Rob Ford told ethnic media he had quit drinking

A photo taken during the presentation of Mayor Rob Ford to the attending members of the Ethnic Media at the Round table discussions in Toronto on Monday, January 20, 2014. To Rob Ford's left is Thomas Saras.

On Monday evening Mayor Rob Ford sat down at city hall to speak with members of the ethnic media in Toronto. About 40 editors from newspapers that cater to the Chinese, Polish, Russian, Filipino, Sri Lankan, Eritrean and Caribbean communities, along with four television crews, met with him from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Reporters peppered him with questions about subways, parking, pollution and the mayor’s own challenges with drugs and alcohol.
The mayor told the assembled three times that he has quit drinking, has lost 40 lbs, and apologized for past indiscretions, say those who were there.

Then, Monday night, after leaving city hall, the mayor went out and got inebriated and showed up on YouTube, ranting and raving about the police chief in Jamaican patois. Coming just hours after the mayor’s vows to stay sober, his latest actions have left Thomas Saras, chief executive of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada, feeling “highly disappointed.”
“It’s the third biggest city in North America,” says Mr. Saras, “and one of the most important cities in the world. The first citizen of this city has to have his dignity and his integrity.”
Mr. Saras has seen a lot in almost half a century in journalism. Since Pierre Trudeau, Mr. Saras has interviewed every prime minister. Photos of Mr. Saras with Peter Manning, Peter Mansbridge, Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin and Mike Harris adorn the walls of his office at city hall.
In his suit and tie, Mr. Saras is a dignified elder statesman amid the denizens of the city hall press gallery. He has never, for example, joined the hordes who fight for position outside the mayor’s office, for a glimps or a quote.
“It reminds me of the Mau Maus attacking their victims,” he says, half-jokingly.
I initially spoke with Mr. Saras about his Monday night meeting with Mr. Ford on Tueday morning, before the videos of Mr. Ford at Steak Queen in Rexdale came to light. At that time, Mr. Saras was inclined to give the mayor the benefit of the doubt. He compared Mr. Ford’s travails to those of François Hollande, the French president, hounded by the media for having an affair.
That is discrediting the office of the mayor. This is very, very bad. You are creating an even worse example for the citizens
By Wednesday, having seen the Ford video in which he slags Police Chief Bill Blair, Mr. Saras was less chivalrous. Now he compares Mr. Ford to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, who recently purged the top echelon of Turkish police.
“I cannot imagine that the chief politician is attacking the chief of police,” Mr. Saras says. “That is discrediting the office of the mayor. This is very, very bad. You are creating an even worse example for the citizens.”
The mayor’s attempt at Jamaican patois also does not sit well with Mr. Saras. “It’s a matter of self-respect,” he says.
Mayor Ford won election in 2010 with support from the multi-ethnic suburbs of Scarborough, North York and Etobicoke. He needs those votes even more in 2014. For Mr. Ford to upset bike-riding downtowners like me poses no danger to his re-election bid. But when the mayor raises the eyebrows of Thomas Saras, he may be in real trouble.
National Post