London Mayor Boris Johnson says he was 'kept away' from then-Mayor Rob Ford during his last visit to Toronto a few years ago.
Johnson was speaking to reporters in London as he greeted Toronto Mayor John Tory prior to a meeting on Thursday.
Tory is in Britain to promote investment in Toronto, and wanted to chat with his London counterpart about transit, Uber and affordable housing.
The London mayor took a few questions from reporters before sharing a laugh with Tory about Johnson’s last trip to Toronto, when Rob Ford was mayor.
“Last time I went to Toronto, for some reason, I was kept away from the mayor, the then-mayor of Toronto,” Johnson said of Ford, whose controversial mayoral term often made international headlines.
Johnson, who has had his own share of controversy, said Ford “seemed to be a good guy … a guy after my own heart.”
To which a smiling Tory replied, “No sir. No, no, no.”
Ford took to Twitter on Thursday to respond to Johnson's comments.
"@MayorofLondon happy to talk with you any time, maybe catch a @torontofc playoff game!" the city councillor wrote, using Johnson's Twitter handle.
Johnson, a cycling enthusiast, made his own international headlines last June after he was filmed telling a cab driver to “f---off and die” while out riding his bicycle. Last week, Johnson apologized after accidentally knocking over a 10-year-old boy during a game of rugby.
As he greeted Tory before a handful of reporters on Thursday, the London mayor appeared eager to tout London’s Crossrail system, a $30-billion rail line currently under construction. The transit plan is similar to Tory’s Smart Track plan.
Johnson asked if Toronto needs something as big as the Crossrail, to which Tory replied: “Yes, because the region has a population of about six million and there’s heavy congestion, so we need to do something quite urgently.”
On affordable housing, Johnson he “doubts very much, mayor, that we can teach you anything.
“But we always try to learn from Toronto about greener living and how to make the city more attractive.”
And while Johnson congratulated Canada on its recent federal election, he stopped short of providing any support to Canada’s prime minister-designate, Justin Trudeau.
“I think it would be wrong of me to blight anybody’s career in Canadian politics by offering my support or endorsement, but its great news that Canada has a new government,” Johnson said.
When Tory informed the mayor that he was expecting investment in infrastructure from the newly elected Liberal government, Johnson turned to reporters and said, “You’ve got a mayor who’s obviously determined to hold the new (prime minister’s) feet to the fire and to make sure that you invest in infrastructure.”
Toronto can perhaps expect another visit from Johnson, who said “wild horses” couldn’t keep him from Canada’s largest city. Tory said he planned to honour him by naming one of the bikes in Toronto’s Bikeshare program, the “Boris Bike.”
