Crack-smoking mayor knocks down councillor in stormy debate

Disgraced mayor of Toronto Rob Ford ran into more trouble as he was stripped of the last of his substantive powers following a stormy council debate.

The burly Canadian politician knocked down an elderly councilwoman as he charged across the room to cries of ‘shame" from the gallery.

Mr Ford now effectively has no legislative power after the council voted overwhelmingly in favour of slashing his office budget by 60 per cent and allowing staff to join his deputy Norm Kelly.

The vote was held after the mayor admitted to smoking crack cocaine and regular binge-drinking sessions, but he is still refusing to step down.

Toronto mayor Rob Ford has been stripped of his powers (Picture: AP/The Canadian Press)

‘This is nothing more than a coup d"etat," he said. ‘What"s happening here today is not a democratic process – it"s a dictatorship process."

Mr Ford said he was rushing to the defence of his brother when he knocked down councillor Pam McConnell.

Councillor Pam McConnell recovers from her fall (Picture: AP /The Canadian Press)

‘I picked her up," said the 44-year-old. ‘I ran around because I thought my brother was getting into an altercation."

While Mr Ford vowed to retu to power after the October 2014 election, an unimpressed Ms McConnell said: ‘This is the seat of democracy, it is not a football field."