Mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson had a brush with the law in the same year that fellow candidate Rob Ford was charged with failing to provide a breathalyzer test.
Thomson, a self-described entrepreneur, faced an assault charge in 1999 following an argument with an employee whom she believed was stealing.
Thomson's charge was revealed Friday – a day after Ford admitted he had been pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving while on vacation in Florida in 1999.
Ford was charged with failing to provide a breathalyzer and also faced a lesser charge of possession of marijuana which was dropped. Ford pleaded guilty, paid a fine and completed 50 hours of community service, he told a news conference Thursday.
The assault charge against Thomson was dropped after she went before a judge, she said.
Thomson had confronted the employee about stealing when they each grabbed the other's shirt.
"I grabbed her shirt or something…it wasn't an assault as you would think of an assault," Thomson told CP24.
"She turned on me and grabbed me and I had turned on her and grabbed her.
"I kind of pushed her away and went to my car and called police."
Thomson does not believe it would have been appropriate to address the historical charge Thursday while Ford was facing a barrage of questions from reporters about his criminal past, she said.
"It wasn't something I was going to talk about because I wouldn't want it dug into – who this person was and to really bring things [down] on her. She may have changed her life since then because it was so long ago," Thomson said.
"I am not into grandstanding. I didn't think it was appropriate to grandstand on this issue. I really want to get us all back to talk about the issues of transit; we have a spending problem at City Hall. I am hoping we can get back to that."
Thomson confirmed she has never faced another charge.
Ford revealed that he was once charged in connection with an assault as well as in a domestic incident involving his wife – the charge was later dismissed.
