This is one video Rob Ford won’t mind anyone seeing.
Toronto’s embattled mayor turned hero Thursday, saving Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion, 92, from a potential fall during a fishing trip on Lake Ontario.
The Toronto Sun's Joe Warmington reports both mayors were taking part in the Great Ontario Salmon Derby aboard Capt. Dolly Erbrecht’s Salmon Express II when a 16-pound salmon caught McCallion's line unexpectedly, about 20 km off Port Credit.
Ford grabbed McCallion from behind in a bear hug as she reeled it in.
"I just did an old-time football tackle," Ford joked with the reporter.
In the clip, Ford is shown telling everyone on board not to worry.
"Mayor holding mayor," a woman teases. "Don't let my favourite mayor go now."
"I couldn’t stand on my two feet, so I lunged forward of course, and Rob Ford was standing right behind me — all the men were — and he just grabbed me, thank goodness," she said.
Dick Loek, a retired chief photographer from the Toronto Star, took some great shots of the action.
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Ford Saves 'Hurricane Hazel'
Ford, perhaps in need of some good PR after his recent appearance at the Taste of the Danforth, tweeted a link to the YouTube clip Friday morning.
Ford faced criticism last Friday after videos of him enjoying a night on the town went viral. Many suggested the Toronto mayor, who has been accused of having alcohol problems, of being inebriated.
"Did I have a couple beers, absolutely I had a couple beers," Ford said on his radio show Sunday. "I had a good time, I let my hair down."
The Sun reports Ford was teased about the incident Thursday by federal Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino, who was also on board and apparently pushed a bottle of water away before a photo, joking "hide the booze."
"It's vodka in there," Ford said. "Or homemade moonshine."
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