Mayor Rob Ford, escorted by a security officer, makes his way past the media smiling as he arrives at his office at city hall in Toronto on November 07, 2013.Deborah Baic/The Globe and Mail
Toronto's ombudsman has asked the city to review its security policies after a scathing report found that City Hall security staff repeatedly broke their own rules at the height of the Rob Ford scandal.
In a 67-page report released on Thursday, Fiona Crean gives details of multiple instances in which the publicly funded security guards obscured the then-mayor's intoxication at City Hall, and shielded him from members of the public and the media.
She included an incident in which guards did not document Mr. Ford being intoxicated "and swearing" at staff for fear others would see the report, and another in which a guard physically "blocked" security cameras from filming an inebriated Mr. Ford. In other cases, guards prevented reporters from asking questions of Mr. Ford, and failed to act when he bowled over a fellow councillor in the council chamber.
"The investigation found that City Hall Security failed to fulfill its mandate to provide equitable protection to all individuals," Ms. Crean wrote.
"Security was slow to respond and its approach to dealing with the incidents identified in this report was reactive and fell short of ... expectations. It did not respond in a consistent manner to the changed environment."
As a result, she is asking for the city to make it clear to its security staff that they report to management, and not elected officials. She has also asked security staff to review their policy for providing escorts, and to review on an ongoing basis the need for additional skills training or resources.
City manager Joe Pennachetti agreed to work with Ms. Crean on her recommendations, but also pointed to the "unprecedented" atmosphere during Mr. Ford's tumultuous mayoralty, saying security was often "in a difficult situation."
As details of the former mayor's alcohol and drug abuse surfaced over the past two years, City Hall became increasingly chaotic – often with loud outbursts and scuffles between Mr. Ford and members of the public and media.
Ms. Crean writes that she received many complaints over the past year from people who wanted her to investigate what they called "security's politicization" – and accusations that security guards were giving priority to Mr. Ford's interests over the safety and security of the public.
The role of security at City Hall is to ensure the safety of all users – including staff, councillors, the mayor's office, the public, and media. And unlike Mayor John Tory, who travels with a Toronto Police escort, the former mayor opted not to have a police detail or private guards, and frequently called on City Hall security to escort him around the facility.
Ms. Crean found that this, coupled with the fact that Mr. Ford often asked for one specific guard, led to the perception that the security staff were acting for Mr. Ford. That guard – who has been transferred away from City Hall – was the same one who blocked the security cameras, and later allowed Mr. Ford to drive out of the City Hall parking lot through an entrance.
The report says guards allowed Mr. Ford to do this several times to avoid the media.
Ms. Crean says Mr. Ford placed "unprecedented demands" on staff and that many security guards viewed him as "head of the city," and thus difficult to refuse.
The ombudsman adds that Mr. Ford often acted against the advice of security. "The mayor doesn't always listen," one guard told her investigators, "and often acts in a spontaneous manner."
Mr. Ford – who is now an Etobicoke councillor and is battling cancer – slammed Ms. Crean's report. The former mayor has long been a critic of Ms. Crean, accusing her of "political" investigations.
"A number of the ombudsman's findings are subjective, and are not based in fact," he wrote in his statement.
The former mayor also accused reporters of acting in "an outright disrespectful and dangerous manner."
Asked about the report on Thursday, Mr. Tory described the previous administration as "an unfortunate, very turbulent chapter in the city's history that is now over."
Still, he said the report contains "some useful things to focus on, in terms of making sure that politicians recognize that they shouldn't be giving specific instructions to people like this who work in city government – things like instructions should be done by the management."
Ann Hui