Toronto Mayor Rob Ford attends and executive board meeting on March 19 2014. Documents related to Project Brazen 2 were releases by a provincial judge after media requested their release.The Globe and Mail
* The Globe will cover Rob Ford's press conference live from city hall at 3:30. Click here for coverage.
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford makes his return to city hall on Monday, when he plans to address reporters in his office directly. What he won't be doing, which his spokesman confirmed Friday, is answering reporters' questions.
Over the past year of Mr. Ford's scandal-plagued mayoralty, he has routinely refused to respond to questions regarding drug use, a police investigation targeting him, complaints to the integrity commissioner, and questionable behaviour at city hall.
Here are some of the questions the mayor has left unanswered:
Why did he finally decide to attend rehab when he did?
After reports first surfaced last year about a videotape that appeared to show him smoking crack cocaine, the mayor denied for months using the drug or being addicted to drugs.
It was only in October, when Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair announced that police had a copy of the video, that Mr. Ford finally admitted to having smoked crack cocaine. And even then, he denied being an addict.
But in April, immediately following a Globe and Mail report that revealed the existence of a second videotape apparently showing the mayor using crack cocaine, the mayor suddenly announced his leave of absence.
He said he was dealing with alcohol problems. What about drug use?
When the mayor announced in late April that he was temporarily stepping down, he said in a statement it was to deal with "problems with alcohol."
But the mayor has been videotaped twice recently smoking what appears to be crack cocaine. He has also admitted to purchasing illegal drugs during his term as mayor.
The mayor's spokesman Amin Massoudi said Friday that the mayor had undergone "just under 500 hours of therapy" in rehab. This would mean he received more than eight hours of treatment every day while he was away.
Did he use his position as mayor to benefit his family business?
A Globe investigation this month revealed that Mayor Ford and his brother helped a commercial printing company lobby city staff for contracts, without revealing that the Ford family business was negotiating a business deal itself – to refer clients to Deco – with the same company. Doug Ford said Deco was not referred any clients.
A complaint has since been filed with the city's integrity commissioner over the report.
Will he address his offensive and sexually explicit comments?
Immediately before the mayor announced he was taking a leave, the Toronto Sun reported the existence of an audiotape of Mayor Ford swearing and using sexually explicit language about mayoral rival Karen Stintz.
The Sun report was just the latest in a string of incidents of Mayor Ford using offensive language.
In a separate, secretly taped videos that surfaced earlier this year, the mayor is seen at an Etobicoke restaurant describing Chief Bill Blair in sexually explicit language in Jamaican patois. And a videotape viewed by two Toronto Star reporters allegedly shows the mayor using an anti-gay slur in regards to Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau.
How does he know Lee Anne McRobb, and why was she driving his car?
Lee Anne McRobb, a 36-year-old Muskoka woman, was arrested for impaired driving in cottage country behind the wheel of Mayor Ford's Escalade in May. She later told local reporters that she had met the mayor in rehab.
Why she was driving the mayor's black SUV is still unknown.
Why was he at city hall the night of Easter Monday, and who was the woman who came to visit him?
City hall security reports and surveillance video show the mayor spent several hours at his office on Easter Monday of this year – when the power was shut down in the building.
Security guards wrote that the mayor "appeared intoxicated" that evening, and asked guards to retrieve for him from a city hall entrance an unidentified female guest.
Surveillance video shows the woman left about an hour later, with an unidentified man with long hair.
Did he make threats against a city hall security guard the night of March 15?
City hall security guards were on alert the evening of March 15, when Mayor Ford approached two guards slurring his words and "speaking in a disorganized fashion." Those guards later reported the incident to senior city officials, alleging Mayor Ford threatened to "get" the guard who reported his bad behaviour at city hall the year earlier.
The mayor was filmed on video later that night speaking to a group of unidentified young men outside of city hall, before getting into a cab followed by the men.
Will he promise to abstain from drugs and alcohol?
The mayor has made similar promises in the past. It's not clear if he will make another promise on Monday.
Will he continue to associate with people with criminal records?
In the past year, several of the mayor's friends and known associates – including his driver, Alessandro Lisi, longtime friend Bruno Bellissimo and fellow football coach Payman Aboodowleh – have been revealed to have a criminal histories.
The mayor was also photographed in a now-infamous image with his arm around two alleged drug dealers, in front of a house police later described as a "crack house."
When asked to explain these relationships, the mayor has responded by saying, "I don't throw my friends under the bus."
Will he meet with Toronto Police?
In May of last year, Toronto Police launched an investigation into "potential wrongdoing" in Mayor Ford's office. That investigation has resulted in the arrest so far of Mayor Ford's friend Mr. Lisi on drug and extortion charges, and just last month police interviewed a man they believed was trying to sell a video that appears to show the mayor smoking crack cocaine.
Despite repeated requests, Mayor Ford has so far refused to meet with investigators.