Rob Ford: Garrison Ball official says only ticket holders are welcome

After Mayor Rob Ford indicated he might attend the Garrison Ball, John Wright, the event chair, issued a statement warning that the event is sold out and anyone without a ticket would not be allowed in.

Ford has not been invited to the Saturday event.

The Garrison Ball is an annual dinner attended by military personnel as well as civilians, politicians and dignitaries. The theme this year is the liberation of Italy after the Second World War.

Several attendees of the 2013 gala told the Star last year Ford appeared “incoherent,” “stumbling,” and “slurring,” at the event. Councillor Paul Ainslie requested Ford’s staff to ask him to leave.

Wright told the Star’s Zoe McNight that this year’s snub is unrelated.

The statement goes on to say that Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly has accepted an invitation to attend as the city hall representative.

Here is what Wright wrote.

I’m issuing this to ensure that the following reasoning is well understood with respect to the 2014 Garrison Ball:

1. The Garrison Ball is a Military function, not a civic or public function, and has taken place for many decades. Each year it is hosted by a different regiment of the Toronto Garrison. Each host unit determines the theme and has often, but not always, invited a “premier” guest based on the theme. It has never been a tradition to invite the Mayor of Toronto to the event; it has been an occasional invitation based on the occasion/theme.

2. The theme of the 2012 event hosted by the Queens York Rangers (Fort York) was the inauguration of the War of 1812; in 2013, the Royal Canadian Navy (HMCS York) continued the theme of the War of 1812 because in 1813 the actual Battle of York commenced with a Naval engagement in April of that year just off of York. As such, it was appropriate to invite the Mayor of Toronto as the premier guest to both of those events because it focused on events specifically dealing with historic Toronto. In 2012 the Mayor Ford was invited, accepted but did not show at the event; in 2013 he was invited and showed up briefly. The only other Mayor I can recall invited in the past decade was Mayor Miller and that was for an evening hosted by the Toronto Scottish regiment.

3. The 2014 Garrison Ball, hosted by the Governor General’s Horse Guards, commemorates the World War 2 liberation of Italy and is completely themed to that occasion. The premier guest is the Italian Ambassador to Canada who will also be accompanied by the Italian Consul General from Toronto.

4. The Garrison Ball has normally had an official “city representative” at the event; as such, given the situation at City Hall and in keeping with protocol that currently exists there, the committee issued a letter to the Office of the Deputy Mayor of Toronto inviting the office to choose a representative to attend, which was accepted by the Deputy Mayor, Mr. Kelly.

5. The Garrison Ball is the premier annual Military ball in Toronto which will take place on Saturday, March 29, 2014 at the Liberty Grand venue at Exhibition Place. The event is completely sold out and will be attended by 800 people. As such, anyone who shows up without a ticket or official invitation as an official guest of the Garrison will not be accommodated as there will be no extra seating.

Hon. Col. (RCAF) John Wright

Chair, 2014 Garrison Ball Program Committee