In a second Toronto mayoralty debate Thursday night, Rob Ford’s personal troubles took centre stage, getting a grilling from students.
Ford’s admission that he has smoked crack cocaine was not raised at the first debate on Wednesday night, but he got a few questions from students and even the moderator.
The incumbent Toronto mayor answered them in a familiar way.
“I’m not perfect, and I never said I was,” Ford told the crowd.
One of the frontrunners in the race, Olivia Chow, was missing from the debate at Ryerson University. But Ford, John Tory, Karen Stintz and David Soknacki took the chance to speak to students on the subject of transit.
"We all know that our transit system was built for a city of 1.5 million and we're 2.7. So we didn't keep up,” Stintz said. “So now we have a problem.”
Ford reminded former provincial Progressive Conservative party leader John Tory that he failed in a previous mayoral race and never led the PCs to power.
Tory had a comeback this time, which earned him cheers from the audience.
“The mayor's taking joy in the fact that I've lost,” he said. Then he turned to Ford and said: “You'll have the experience soon enough.”
Voters will decide whether Ford remains in office or will be replaced Oct. 27.
