A local storeowner had a run-in with Toronto’s besieged Mayor Rob Ford and says it was “pleasant.”
On Sunday, Feb. 2, Tracey Dupre saw Ford walk out of the 7/11 store in Sapperton, which is located across the street from her thrift store. She went to say hello to the mayor, who’s been in the news repeatedly for a number of shocking incidents that include admitting to smoking crack. As she spoke with him, a crowd gathered around.
“He was really nice and took pictures with everybody,” Dupre said.
One customer asked Ford if he would wait for his friend, a Toronto native, to come by, and he did, said Durpe, who owns The Littlest Thrift Shop, a second-hand store that opened last summer.
People were excited to meet the mayor because, “he’s on the news,” she said.
“He’s everywhere right now, and you expect something weird to happen,” Dupre added, laughing. “But he was actually very nice, very pleasant. I mean he didn’t have to take pictures with everybody and he stayed around.”
Ford mingled for about 15 minutes on the Sunday afternoon. He was in the Lower Mainland for a funeral, but his visit wasn’t without controversy. Ford got a ticket for jaywalking and was accused of acting intoxicated at the Foggy Dew pub in Coquitlam the night before he was spotted in New West.
During his visit, Dupre said, no one mentioned Ford’s recent scandals, which have left him essentially stripped of his mayoral duties. Instead, they were wishing him good luck on his upcoming run for re-election, she said.
