Toronto mayor to seek help for 'problem with alcohol'

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford announced he will take a leave of absence to seek help for "a problem with alcohol" as a report surfaced about a second video of the mayor smoking what appears to be crack cocaine.

Ford said he will take an immediate leave from his job and his re-election campaign.

"I have a problem with alcohol, and the choices I have made while under the influence. I have struggled with this for some time," Ford said in statement late Wednesday.

The Globe and Mail newspaper reported it has viewed a second video of Ford smoking what appears to be crack cocaine in his sister's basement. The national newspaper reported two Globe reporters viewed the video from a self-professed drug dealer showing Ford taking a drag from a pipe early Saturday morning.

The video is part "of a package of three videos the dealer said was surreptitiously filmed around 1:15 a.m., and which he says he is now selling for `at least six figures,"' the paper reported.

News reports of the existence of an earlier video of Ford apparently smoking crack first surfaced last May, igniting a media firestorm around Ford and calls for his resignation.

The latest crack tape report came on earlier on Wednesday as Ford's lawyer, Dennis Morris, said the mayor would be taking a leave of absence. Ford is seeking re-election in the Oct. 27 vote.

Ford, who launched his campaign for re-election earlier this year, acknowledged last year after months of denials that he smoked crack in a "drunken stupor" after police said they obtained a video that appears to show him smoking crack. The video has never been released to the public.

Ford has careened from one scandal to another, becoming a national embarrassment for many Canadians. He was elected three years ago, largely on the strength of his support in the suburbs, whereas the previous mayor, David Miller, was viewed as too focused on downtown needs and reckless with tax dollars. All four major Toronto newspapers have called for Ford to resign. Municipal law makes no provision for his removal from office unless he's convicted and jailed for a criminal offense.

John Tory, who is running against Ford in the election, said he's relieved that Ford is seeking help but said "for the good of the city" he should resign.

Also on Wednesday, The Toronto Sun reported that it obtained an audio recording of Ford making offensive remarks about other politicians at a bar on Monday night.

Ford has refused to resign, despite mounting pressure after a string of incidents, from public drunkenness to an appearance in another video that showed him threatening "murder" in an incoherent rant. Toronto's city council has stripped him of most of his powers.

Ford said last year that he quit drinking alcohol after having a "come to Jesus moment" but later acknowledged that he drank again.  A number of recordings of the mayor intoxicated have surfaced since.

Ford acknowledged "rocky moments over the past year" during his official campaign launch earlier this month but vowed to fight harder than ever to win re-election.

Ford, who was the first to register as a candidate in January, invoked the spirit of second chances during a speech in front of supporters.

The Associated Press