His illness made him do it.
That's how Mayor Mel Lastman rationalized his now-famous gaffe about not wanting to go to Kenya because he feared the natives would boil him in water.
Speaking publicly yesterday about his battle with hepatitis C and the chemotherapy regime he began on Jan. 17, Mr. Lastman said the disease has affected his nerves and that the African comment was "caused by the illness."
His voice very soft, looking tired, he told reporters that when he made the offensive remark "I didn't know anything was wrong. The last thing I would ever want to do is stereotype people."
Jeremy Beaty, who has lived with hepatitis C since 1977 when he received a transfusion during open-heart surgery, cannot accept the mayor using his disease as an excuse for his actions.
"That's a cop-out," he said last night.
"I'm having a tough time understanding that he says some words about Africa and being boiled because of hepatitis C," said the 69-year-old former president of the Hepatitis C Society of Canada. The society has fought for compensation for people who received tainted blood.
Mr. Beaty said that everyone reacts differently to the disease. He has lost his ability to concentrate. So he had to be very careful when he spoke to journalists during the fight for compensation because one wrong word could have ruined the message or a personal reputation, he said. "A public person [like the mayor]has to be even more careful."
Mr. Lastman's comment, made in June, 2001, during the city's bid for the 2008 Olympic Games, was not an isolated incident. "Other things as well were caused by the disease," he said at Toronto police headquarters, where he was attending a police board meeting. He did not elaborate, but said that journalists noticed some things for which they had no explanation.
Mr. Lastman explained that his physician told him 1½ years ago to begin the treatment, but he refused because he had things left that he wanted to accomplish at city hall. The doctor then advised him not to get involved in controversial issues relating to his job because "you're going to say things you don't mean and say things you don't want to say."
He revealed on Wednesday that the hepatitis C he contracted from tainted blood during surgery in 1989 had flared up and that he would require extensive treatment for the next 48 weeks. The announcement was prompted by questions about his health after he suffered a dizzy spell at a public function.
Mr. Lastman said yesterday that he was feeling better and plans to continue the job to which he was elected until the next municipal election in November.
He will not slow down or quit, he said. His plan is not to take off any extended time, but as a concession to the illness, he said, he might take the occasional week off in Florida to "calm down."
The mayor's mood was sombre when he talked about the side effects of the treatment, including depression, some hair loss, flu-like symptoms and not being able to sleep at night.
He perked up, showing some of his old energy, when speaking about how he expects to be among the 40 per cent of patients cured by the treatment he is receiving. "I'm going to get well, and I won't have to think about it any more. It will be gone," he said, his voice notably stronger.
Mr. Lastman is being treated with a drug cocktail of interferon, which he injects into his abdomen once a week, and ribavirin, which he takes daily in pill form.
According to the Canadian Liver Foundation, the cure rate with this combination of drugs is 55 to 60 per cent, but that success depends on the individual's body.