The man behind Rob Ford’s ouster said he’s OK with an attempt to stay the order so Ford could remain in Toronto’s mayoral office until his appeal is heard.
Paul Magder consented to the stay Monday in order to maintain a certain level of stability at city hall, his lawyer confirmed.
"By breaking the law in such a flagrant manner, Rob Ford has put this city into unnecessary turmoil," lawyer Clayton Ruby said in a statement. "We are agreeing to this stay to give the city of Toronto a measure of stability, something that has been wholly absent during Mr. Ford's term in office.”
However, the decision to grant the stay remains with a judge.
Ford's lawyer Alan Lenczner will argue for the stay in court on Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, Ruby and Magder remain opposed to Ford’s appeal of the sentence.
Magder said the manner in which Ford reacted to Justice Charles Hackland’s decision to order him out of office for breaking municipal conflict-of-interest rules was “outrageous.”
"I brought this application to protect Toronto's municipal government from politicians putting their own interests ahead of the citizens they were elected to serve," said Magder in a statement. "One of Ontario's most respected judges considered in great detail the arguments made on my behalf and that of Mr. Ford before issuing his thoroughly reasoned decision.
"For Mr. Ford to pretend he is the victim of a ‘left-wing’ political attack is to insult the justice system that is a cornerstone of Canada's strong and enduring democracy."
Ford’s brother and Etobicoke Councillor Doug Ford told CTV Toronto that he was pleased to hear that Magder consented to the stay. However, Doug Ford said he isn’t completely confident that a judge will agree.
“No, no one's confident,” he said Monday. “You just don't know nowadays. You just don't know what the courts will decide. So, we'll let the courts decide. And if it comes to a byelection, we'll let the people decide."
If Ford is not granted the stay, he will have to vacate the mayoral office by Monday, Dec. 10.
During his weekly radio show on Sunday, Ford asserted his plans to run in a byelection.
“If we don’t win the appeal, hopefully we’ll have a byelection -- and that’s out of my hands,” he said. “If council decides they want to have a byelection, I assure you I’ll be the first one into the race and I encourage everyone else to get in the race also.”
Rumours of who could potentially run against Ford have been swirling since Hackland handed down his decision last week.
Toronto City Councillor Shelley Carroll is one of the candidates ready to go head-to-head with Ford in the event of a byelection.
“I think you’ll see a lot of people working on making sure that there is a really good choice and a tough race for any candidate in that race who has a loose definition of abiding by the law,” she said Monday.
With files from CTV Toronto's Colin D'Mello
