There was a single no vote among the 38 Toronto City Council members who showed up Thursday to weigh in on whether the city should study the feasibility of allocating 25 percent of beds at a local homeless shelter to LGBT youth, reports the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
The lone vote against the study came from the city's embattled mayor, Rob Ford.
"It tells me he doesn't care," fellow council member Kristyn Wong-Tam told the CBC. "He's demonstrated he doesn't care."
According to Wong-Tam, there would be no cost to the city for the study -- a fact she says negates the possibility that the mayor's no vote was a reflection of his antitaxation political bent. She also told the CBC that despite multiple attempts to engage the mayor in issues of interest to LGBT Toronto residents, Ford has refused, citing a lack of time.
The CBC also noted that Ford's no vote was cast the day after the mayor stayed firmly planted in his chair during a standing ovation acknowledging Toronto's hosting of WorldPride last month. Ford recently also tried unsuccessfully to have a Pride flag removed from Toronto City Hall.
"In the private sector, if there was anyone who behaves in this way, they would be reprimanded," Wong-Tam told the CBC. "This just clearly demonstrates there are two different standards here: one for Mayor Ford and one for everyone else."
The mayor has admitted to smoking crack cocaine and having a drinking problem.
