While a room full of the city's business elite waited impatiently for Toronto Mayor Rob Ford to arrive and deliver a speech, he lived up to his reputation for surprises as he got stuck in a hotel elevator for nearly an hour on Thursday, Reuters reported.
Just two days after a video emerged showing Ford ranting, putting on a Jamaican accent, and using profanities to describe Toronto's police chief, he was late at a C$89-a-plate ($80) business lunch.
About an hour later, several people in the audience at a downtown hotel had grown tired of waiting and had left. With no explanation from his staff for his absence, Ford finally reached the podium a little while later, Reuters reported.
"I want to thank the Economic Club for hosting this event and getting me stuck in an elevator for 45 minutes," he said, before launching into a 20-minute campaign-like speech trumpeting his efforts to cut costs at city hall and criticizing city council for curbing his powers late last year.
Ford, other members of Ford's staff and several hotel employees had been stuck in a service elevator for about 45 minutes, Rhiannon Traill, chief executive of the Economic Club of Canada, which hosted the event, confirmed.
Since there was no cellphone signal in the elevator, the group used the elevator intercom to call for help, she said.
Questions about Monday night's drunken incident were not taken by Ford after the speech.
Despite his pledge late last year to quit drinking, Ford admitted on Tuesday that he had consumed alcohol when the video was shot on Monday night.
According to Reuters, "The posting of the video on YouTube was a setback for the mayor's efforts to distance himself from a crack-smoking scandal last year and to jump-start his reelection campaign."
In November, Ford vowed to clean up his act after admitting he had smoked crack while in a "drunken stupor" and had also driven a car after drinking.
Ford made those admissions after police revealed they had a video of the mayor smoking what appeared to be crack. The video had been uncovered in the course of a drug investigation.
"Ford has maintained he is not addicted to drugs or alcohol. In late November, he said he had stopped drinking completely," Reuters reported.
While the scandals of last year have taken a toll on Ford's support, polls show he is still popular in suburban areas east and west of the city's core, Reuters reported.
