TORONTO, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Toronto officials tried to return to normal Wednesday, a day after Mayor Rob Ford stunned the city by admitting he had indeed smoked crack.
Ford's brother, Doug, the vice chairman of the City Council Budget Committee, refused to talk to reporters when he arrived at City Hall for a morning meeting, The Globe and Mail reported. The mayor used the back stairs when he turned up at around noon, avoiding the crowd of reporters and camera crews at the main entrance.
Karen Stintz, a member of the council and mayoral candidate, was willing to comment.
"I mean, the topic of the schoolyard for my children is crack cocaine and I think it's very disappointing that it's come to this," she said. "I think really what we need to do is bring calm to the city."
Another member of the council, Denzil Minnan-Wong, said he plans to move ahead with a resolution asking the mayor to take a leave of absence.
There was also a flap about whether Police Chief Bob Blair had offered to show the video of the mayor smoking crack to the Toronto Police Services Board. Alok Mukherjee, the board chairman, after saying early Wednesday the chief did make the offer, reversed himself later in the day in response to a denial from the Police Department.
Ford said Tuesday he could not remember exactly when he smoked crack because it occurred during a "drunken stupor."
