But Dale said Tuesday afternoon that the apology did not go far enough.
The reporter served Ford with a libel notice last week, demanding the mayor apologize and retract what he called a "false insinuation."
During his interview with Black, Ford claimed that the reporter was in his backyard in May 2012, "taking pictures of little kids," and Ford added he didn't want to say "that word, but you start thinking what this guy is all about."
Ford later told reporters he stood by every word he said in the interview.
But in a statement to council on Tuesday, Ford it is "unfortunate" that the word he never said was "ascribed" to him by the media.
"I never called Daniel Dale a pedophile. I have never used that word to describe Mr. Dale," Ford said. "I do not believe Mr. Dale is a pedophile nor did I intend to suggest that in my comments."
Ford said his comments were about the fear he had when a neighbour told him someone was lurking at his fence and "appeared" to be taking pictures of his home.
"To be clear, I never personally saw Mr. Dale peering over the fence or taking pictures. My neighbour told me, however, that he did see someone doing this," Ford said.
The mayor said he sincerely apologized if his words caused the reporter harm or personal offence.
Dale has always maintained he was writing a story about a plot of public land adjacent to Ford's house that the mayor wanted to buy, so he went to take a look when the mayor emerged from his home to confront him. The reporter has said that at no time was he on the mayor's property nor did he take any pictures.
Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.ca/
Author: The Huffington Post Canada/CP
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