Rob Ford has been removed from the office as Mayor of Toronto. A judge ruled that he broke the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act when he spoke and voted at city council on a motion that would recuse him from paying back $3,150 in improperly solicited donations to his private charity, “The Rob Ford Football Foundation.”

The judge’s ruling grills Ford for thumbing his nose at Council’s Code of Conduct saying “…the respondent’s actions were characterized by ignorance of the law and a lack of diligence in securing professional advice, amounting to wilful blindness.” Ford’s defense that his actions represented an error in judgement was dismissed in part due to his “stubborn sense of entitlement and a dismissive and confrontational attitude to the Integrity Commissioner and the Code of Conduct.”

City Council has 14 days to decide how they will proceed. It is still not clear whether Ford is eligible to run in a potential by-election and there is no word yet from Ford on whether he will appeal or run again.

Read the ruling in its entirety.

Toronto Standard will have more reaction, analysis and probably a twitter joke round-up as this story develops.

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Michael Kolberg is The Sprawl Editor at Toronto Standard. Follow him on Twitter for jokes@mikeykolberg

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