General

Councillor apologizes for slur on radio

Some people have a special ability to say the most inappropriate things at the most inconvenient times. Take Toronto’s city councilor, Doug Ford, just for example.

His brother, Rob Ford, is the mayor of the city and the two host a weekly radio show on Sundays at Newstalk 1010, a local radio station. Their latest show opened with a discussion about the Euro 2012 soccer championship. That’s when Doug came up with the following:

“They’re so many great teams, I wouldn’t want to pick one over the other. I guess (in the) Euro, you go back to the ancestors — boy, we go back quite a ways, but I’m not too sure — is there any WASPy teams on there? We’re just Canadian,” he said with a laugh. “Anyways — well, you’re married to the Polack, so you gotta cheer for the Polish team.”

The mayor didn’t seem much offended by the derogatory term used to describe his wife, Renata, who is of Polish descent.

At the end of the show, Doug, who once said “I would have a clue who she is,” speaking of Margaret Atwood, apologized to his “extended Polish family,” saying he didn’t realize calling someone a Polack was derogatory before the conversation veered toward Polish sausages and perogies.

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