Toronto Mayor Rob Ford said his brother's apology to the city's police chief was "a sincere apology" and that it's time to look at electing councillors who will support his budget cuts at a Thursday morning press conference.
The mayor's brother, Councillor Doug Ford, publicly apologized two days after Chief Bill Blair filed a defamation suit against Doug Ford. The councillor accused Blair of leaking information about an investigation involving the mayor as "payback."
"I'm going to take the high road on this," said Coun. Ford Wednesday. "I want to make a public apology to the chief for any comments. The chief feels I have impugned his reputation and I will retract all the statements… It's time to bury the hatchet."
Blair received the written apology Thursday morning and accepted the apology Thursday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Rob Ford is back on the campaign trail and his message for voters heading into this election sounds a lot like it did four years ago.
"The taxpayers come first and the taxpayers are always right," Ford told reporters. He suggested he has to keep working to remove all of the gravy from City Hall and most of the cuts are common sense. However, council voted against almost all of his proposed $65 million in savings because council didn't think they made sense.
Ford blamed councillors on Thursday morning saying that maybe it's time to look at electing new councillors because, after all, Ford is only one vote.
Ford is also campaigning on keeping property taxes and the subway levy well below the rate of inflation. City manager Joe Pennachetti has said the forecasted tax hike has to be in line with the rate of inflation to balance the books.
With files from The Canadian Press.
