Mayor Ford now effectively has no legislative power, as he will no longer chair the executive committee, though he retains his title and ability to represent Toronto at official functions.
The debate became heated after mayor Ford paced around the council chamber and traded barbs with onlookers. The speaker asked security to clear the gallery and a recess was called, but not before he had barrelled toward his detractors, mowing into Councilor Pam McConnell, who is in her 60s.
Visibly shaken after mayor Ford ran her over, Councillor McConnell said she never expected such chaos.
"This is the seat of democracy, it is not a football field," she said. "I just wasn't ready."
Toronto, a city of 2.7 million people, has been abuzz with the Ford melodrama since May, when news outlets reported that he had been caught on video smoking crack cocaine.
Recently released court documents show the mayor became the subject of a police investigation after those reports surfaced. Mayor Ford, who denied there was any incriminating video, now acknowledges the reports were accurate.
In interviews with police, former Ford staffers have made further accusations, saying the mayor drank heavily, sometimes drove while intoxicated and pressured a female staffer to engage in oral sex. The mayor spouted an obscenity on live television last week while denying the sex allegation, saying he was "happily married" and using crude language to assert that he enjoys enough oral sex at home.
Last week, after admitting to excessive drinking and buying illegal drugs, mayor Ford disclosed that he is seeking medical help. But he and his family insist he is not an addict and does not need rehab.
Sources: APTN/AFP
The debate became heated after mayor Ford paced around the council chamber and traded barbs with onlookers. The speaker asked security to clear the gallery and a recess was called, but not before he had barrelled toward his detractors, mowing into Councilor Pam McConnell, who is in her 60s.
Visibly shaken after mayor Ford ran her over, Councillor McConnell said she never expected such chaos.
"This is the seat of democracy, it is not a football field," she said. "I just wasn't ready."
Toronto, a city of 2.7 million people, has been abuzz with the Ford melodrama since May, when news outlets reported that he had been caught on video smoking crack cocaine.
Recently released court documents show the mayor became the subject of a police investigation after those reports surfaced. Mayor Ford, who denied there was any incriminating video, now acknowledges the reports were accurate.
In interviews with police, former Ford staffers have made further accusations, saying the mayor drank heavily, sometimes drove while intoxicated and pressured a female staffer to engage in oral sex. The mayor spouted an obscenity on live television last week while denying the sex allegation, saying he was "happily married" and using crude language to assert that he enjoys enough oral sex at home.
Last week, after admitting to excessive drinking and buying illegal drugs, mayor Ford disclosed that he is seeking medical help. But he and his family insist he is not an addict and does not need rehab.
Sources: APTN/AFP