Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is currently in an undisclosed location after taking a leave of absence from his duties to seek help for alcohol abuse problems. Ford was said to have gone to Chicago to stay at a facility there but abruptly left the airport and the United States, and his whereabouts are currently unknown.
In an outraged piece, the Globe and Mail reports that his handlers allege the mayor “voluntarily withdrew his application to enter the United States,” but no other details have surfaced. Ray Norton, Canada’s consul general in Chicago, added ominously that Ford was “not denied entry, per se.” While drug use is sometimes given as a reason to prevent a foreigner from entering American soil, Ford was in the United States as early as last March and did not have problems with Customs.
Brother Doug Ford told the Associated Press that Rob Ford was in a rehabilitation facility but declined to say where. “The most important thing,” he said, “everyone who is concerned if he’s in rehab, the answer is yes.” He added that Ford “has bought into the program and he’s getting the support he needs.” His attorney, Dennis Morris, also confirmed that Ford is in treatment for substance abuse problems but refused to disclose the location.
CTV Toronto reports that rumors have surfaced of Ford’s visiting a facility in Guelph, Ontario, but the center refused to confirm or deny the presence of Ford or any other patient it treats.
The statement follows an announcement by Ford’s attorney upon his departure from Toronto in which he announced that Ford was seeking treatment for substance abuse. That announcement came after the Globe and Mail reported that a video existed of Ford indulging in crack cocaine – the second tape since the original allegation that such a tape existed hit the internet last year.
The Globe and Mail has responded to the news in its update with demands to know the whereabouts of the mayor. “Trust is not the first thing anyone should give Mayor Ford,” it claims, “…He has a record of taking liberties with the truth, or denying it outright, and only changing his tune once irrefutable contrary evidence is presented.”