Councillor calls for investigation into Rob Ford’s football charity, again

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s football charity is again at the centre of a debate at city hall, just a month after the mayor was cleared in a conflict-of-interest lawsuit involving his charity.

This latest controversy comes after the Toronto Star reported Thursday that Ford was still sending out letters to registered lobbiests soliciting donations for the Rob Ford Football Foundation.

In its report, Star reporters said they had obtained at least two letters sent by Ford to registered lobbiests in the past two months.

Now, even Ford’s allies on council are advising the mayor to back away from his charity.

Councillor Michael Thompson suggested that the mayor appoint someone else to run his charity while he’s in office. “In light of all that has happened in the last year or so with concerns about this, I think we should just put a stop to it and focus on the business of the city,” Thompson told the Star.

Councillor Gord Perks, a left-leaning councillor who opposes the mayor often, is suggesting that the integrity commissioner investigate the mayor again. “It’s a very dangerous sign that the mayor still thinks he can send letters to lobbyists and ask them for money,” Perks told the Toronto Sun. “It is a further dangerous sign that his chief of staff seems to be commenting on his relationship to the fundraising from lobbyists.”

Ford’s office said Thursday that the letters in question were part of a mass mailing, and any letter sent to a lobbiest was “inadvertent.”

They mayor himself has yet to comment. He’s on a Disneyworld vacation with his family.