The Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee (CJPAC) hosted its ACTION Party on March 8, 2013 at the Arcadian Court.

Justin Trudeau and Omar Ha-Redeye

Marc Garneau and Omar Ha-Redeye

Omar Ha-Redeye and Kirsty Duncan

Omar Sharif Jr and Omar Ha-Redeye

Rob Ford and Omar Ha-Redeye

An incident at the event involving Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and Sarah Thomson, referred to over social media as “buttgate,” was subsequently covered by media sources which interviewed Omar Ha-Redeye:

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford says groping allegations ‘absolutely, completely false’

Another guest at the function, lawyer Omar Ha-Redeye, said in an interview that Ms. Thomson did complain to him about the alleged incident shortly afterwards.

“She said `He grabbed my ass,’ that’s what she told me,” Mr. Ha-Redeye said.
…
Lawyer Omar Ha-Redeye confirmed that Ms. Thomson, whom he knows, approached him as they stood a few feet away from Mr. Ford.

“She said `He grabbed my ass,’ that’s what she told me,” Mr. Ha-Redeye said in an interview.

“… It surprised me. I looked at her, she said `Yeah, he’s never done that before any of the other times we’ve taken photos together’. We were in a crowded hallway so I don’t think she wanted to make a scene or anything like that.”

He said he did not personally witness the incident and could only confirm that she spoke to him.

Rob Ford: Sarah Thomson wants apology after accusing Toronto mayor of inappropriate touch

Thomson, the dreadlocked transit advocate and publisher of the Women’s Post, says she arrived at the party with assistant Sarah Patterson and greeted Ford chief of staff Mark Towhey, who said the mayor was upstairs…
Patterson told the Star a shocked-looking Thomson told her about the alleged grab and Florida comment at the event. Omar Ha-Redeye, the next guest waiting in line, says Thomson told him as well.

Thomson prepared to defend Ford allegations in court

Omar Ha-Redeye, a politically active lawyer with ties to the Liberal party, attended the event, and confirmed to NOW that after Thomson met with the mayor, she complained that he had grabbed her behind.

“I saw Sarah immediately after she left Rob Ford. So she came around the corner, and she told me about it at that time,” Ha-Redeye said.

Ha-Redeye said he couldn’t say whether Towhey’s description of Thomson being “happy” was accurate.

“I don’t know if I can gauge her in that way, I just know that she wasn’t making a scene. That may just have been a political choice on her behalf, or not wanting to disrupt the event,” he said.

Sarah Thomson the talk of the town after saying Rob Ford ‘grabbed her ass’

Descriptions of the mayor that evening varied. Omar Ha-Redeye, a lawyer who may have been the first person Ms. Thomson confided in, said the mayor looked like he usually did, a “little socially inept,” not very talkative and avoiding eye contact

Witness backs mayor who denies groping, inappropriate comments

Meanwhile, Omar Ha-Redeye, a Toronto lawyer who was also at the party, told CityNews that Thomson told him about the incident immediately after it occurred.

“She did indicate to me that Ford grabbed her ass,” Ha-Redeye said in a phone interview, adding that he didn’t see the alleged incident himself.

Sarah Thomson demands apology after accusing Rob Ford of inappropriate touch

Omar Ha-Redeye said he was the first person Thomson talked to after the alleged grab. He was waiting to get his own photo with the mayor, who had sat with his back the corner of the room, when she approached him.

“She told me that (Ford) grabbed her ass,” Ha-Redeye said

Mayor Ford’s statement:

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a wonderful event to support the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee.
This is an event that is attended by numerous political leaders and where I have been a guest in the past.
Early this morning, false allegations were made regarding a number of disgusting actions. I am shocked, dismayed and surprised. I can say without hesitation that they are absolutely, completely false.
What is more surprising is that a woman who has aspired to be a civic leader would cry wolf on a day where we should be celebrating women across the globe.
This is a day we should all take the time to reflect upon the women in our lives and in our society. It is a day when we can envision the changes we want to make in our communities to ensure that all people are equal and that violence and discrimination against women comes to an end.

From Twitter:

Thanks to @omarharedeye for saying what he saw and heard, and not editorializing, embellishing or making himself some hero. #topoli

— Jude MacDonald (@judemacdonald) March 9, 2013

See the highlights of Foulidis v. Ford on Slaw.  Mayor Ford issued the following statement:

I welcome today’s decision by the Court to dismiss the Foulidis lawsuit against me.  I will continue fighting to represent the best interests of Toronto taxpayers at City Hall. There is still a lot of work to be done and I will continue to focus on this.

Omar Ha-Redeye spoke to Matt Gurney on Newstalk 1010 about the decision.

Libel decision in Foulidis v. Ford

On December 6, 2011, RobFord.ca was redirected to the Toronto Star website.

For a background of the dispute between Mayor Rob Ford and the Toronto Star see below or here and here.

John Honderich

Chair of Torstar Corp.

Rob Ford

Mayor of Toronto

Honderich: If our local democracy is to flourish, it is essential Torontonians be well informed and conversant on all local issues.

Ford: I have no respect for the Toronto Star whatsoever. If people want to read a paper, pick up the Globe, Post or Sun. That’s what I encourage people to do.

–

Honderich: We have the chief magistrate of the city . . . using the tool of blackout to prevent the city’s largest newspaper from receiving notification of public events, briefings or announcements from his office.

Ford: This is so ridiculous. We might have sent out five press releases. And at City Hall there’s a press gallery. You send only one press release, everybody gets it. It’s like one big family.

–

Honderich: Mayor Ford has no obligation to speak to or be interviewed by the Star. That is entirely his choice.

Ford: The bottom line is, I won’t give them an interview. I do not want to talk to them. If they want to trash me, and do whatever they continue to do, that’s up to them, that’s their prerogative.

–

Honderich: The ban has been in place ever since Ford won the mayoral race more than a year ago. It stems from Ford’s rage over a piece the Star ran during the campaign about his conduct as a football coach.

Ford: Until you apologize for what you wrote I’m not talking to you. And let’s leave it at that.

–

Honderich: Candidate Ford was furious and filed an immediate notice of libel, which is entirely and appropriately his prerogative. But he never followed up, as required, and his suit has now lapsed.

Ford: You don’t make up stories that are not true about me coaching football and ever since that — and everybody knows it’s not true.

–

Honderich: The Ford freeze recently went a step further. The mayor’s staff was holding a briefing on arts funding and other members of the City Hall press gallery were told about it privately. In this case, they were also specifically asked not to tell the Star about it.

Ford: I’ll give you an example. We invited everyone. My press secretary, Adrienne Batra, is leaving us today, it’s her last day, so we had a big party for her two nights ago, and we invited every single media outlet, every councillor — this is the only media outlet that didn’t show up.

–

Honderich: This conduct cannot be allowed to continue unchallenged. The issue is far too important.

Ford: It’s not even worth talking about.

 

CP24 gives the background,

The site was last used when Ford was a city councillor in 2010. The domain name has since been taken over someone else, unknown to the Ford camp.

(Photo Courtesy of Xtra! Magazine)

See more on Slaw, Rob Salerno at Xtra! magazine, and a video clip with Colin D’Mello on CTV.

Photo and Video of Omar Ha-Redeye at Pride 2011 on CTV

Candidates for the Mayoral race in Toronto debated at OISE at an event hosted by Habitat for Humanity.

Some more highlights of George Smitherman follow below.

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