Rob Ford flees news conference when asked about drug use

Mayor Rob Ford fled a news conference on Tuesday when he was asked whether he has used illegal drugs since November.

Speaking earlier Tuesday to NBC host Matt Lauer, Ford dodged when asked if he had used crack cocaine or any other drugs since their previous conversation on November 18.

“I don’t use illegal drugs,” he said.

Ford offered a similar present-tense denial — “I do not use crack cocaine” — when his crack scandal erupted in May. When he finally admitted having used crack, he falsely claimed that journalists had not asked him the “correct questions” about whether he had ever used.

Journalists asked Ford Tuesday to clarify his remarks to Lauer. He asked for “any other questions,” then walked away when the drug question was repeated. On his way out of the room, he asked if the local media is “jealous because I do an interview with an American station.”

He added while walking down the stairs: “I said no and you don't understand the N or the O.”

Ford told Lauer that he has continued drinking alcohol, but “not to the point of some of the episodes before.” He had repeatedly promised to give up drinking entirely.

AUDIO: Rob Ford flees press conference (9:20)

Ford called the news conference to discuss his trip tomorrow to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Big City Mayors' Caucus. Ford has never attended an FCM meeting as mayor, and he was critical for years of councillors’ attendance. He said in 2012: “I don’t go to FCM. Since when do I go to FCM?”

Asked Tuesday about his change of heart, he said: “I realize we need this funding to help the poor people out who live in Toronto Community Housing. The gridlock problems that we face in this city. The solution is: build subways.” He added: “We need money.”

Ford, touting infrastructure investment as “wise,” said he would be asking the federal government for Toronto’s “fair share” of a new $14 billion fund. He is seeking new subway money — for lines on Sheppard and Finch Aves. and a downtown relief line — and for money to address the TCHC’s repair backlog.

None of those subway lines have been approved by council. Ford’s TCHC request comes less than a month after he and his brother, Councillor Doug Ford, were the only members of council to vote against asking the federal and provincial governments to cover a third of the $2.6 billion in capital funding required by the TCHC over the next decade.

Ford said Tuesday that he did not want to “waste their time” with a formal request in January when he knew he would be speaking to them directly in February.

“I’m not just going to give them reports. I don’t want to frustrate our federal colleague through paperwork. That’s not how I do business,” he said Tuesday.

“They know what our needs are. Why are you going to rub it in their face in paper and put it through the media and try to embarrass them? I don’t work that way. I didn’t work that way through the subway. So you know what, I as you know have my contacts up in Ottawa. They treated us very well.”

Councillor Paula Fletcher said Ford would not be taken seriously at the meeting, both because of his open disdain for FCM and because council stripped most of his mayoral powers in the wake of a crack cocaine scandal. She said he is known across the country as a “scandal-ridden mayor.”

“He might think he’s representing the city, but I’m not sure anybody else does,” Fletcher said.

“He might be going because it’s an election year and he’s seen the light that it’s an important thing to do. But if he really thinks he’s going to be recognized as the voice of Toronto, it’s only him that will think that.”