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TORONTO, November 14, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A senior Toronto city councillor who walked out of a tribute for infamous abortionist Henry Morgentaler in June says he is “seriously considering” running for mayor of Canada’s largest city in next October’s municipal election.

“I haven’t made any final decisions and I have no announcements to make today, but there are a number of individuals who have also said that they're interested,” Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong told CP24 on Tuesday.

On June 11, Minnan-Wong walked out of the council chamber in protest over a moment of silence for Morgentaler, who passed away in May.

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A Roman Catholic, he told LifeSiteNews at the time that he took the stand because he is pro-life. “I have always been prolife. Walking out was a matter of principle and personal integrity,” he said. “Not to walk out would have been a recognition of his accomplishments.”

“It would have been far more appropriate to have a moment of silence in memory of all the lives that he was responsible for extinguishing,” the councillor added.

In August, he opted out of a street-naming ceremony at which he was scheduled to officiate upon learning the event was to honour Dr. Morton Shulman, the late chief coroner of Ontario who was also a campaigner for legal abortion.

Minnan-Wong was seen as one of Mayor Rob Ford’s closest allies until last week when he emerged as the mayor’s most vocal opponent after Ford admitted November 5 to smoking crack cocaine while in office. In May, the mayor had denied smoking crack.

“I supported [the mayor] until I discovered he lies, smokes crack and associates with criminals,” Minnan-Wong tweeted November 12.

The councillor, who represents Don Valley East and has been in office since 1998, proposed a motion that passed 37-5 on Wednesday calling on Ford to take a temporary leave of absence. He said he brought the motion because the mayor refused to step aside on his own accord.

Given his admission to illegal drug use while in office, Ford maintains large support.

In a poll released Thursday by Ipsos Reid, 38 percent of respondents remained open to voting for him. The poll also found that he would take 20 percent of the vote in a run-off of the five most likely candidates: Olivia Chow (36%), John Tory (28%), Ford (20%), Karen Stintz (13%), and David Soknacki (3%).

Forty-seven percent agreed with the statement: “Mayor Ford is doing things at City Hall that I want him to keep doing.”

Contact:
Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong
416-397-9256
[email protected]