[Senator Clay Davis]

I probably should have laid out what I was saying a bit more. In this instance the tape is really nothing that bad to Rob Ford. Embarrassing? For sure, but if someone thought acquiring the tape could allow them to blackmail for anything beyond money they are delusional. The tape likely has nothing illegal going on for Ford or he would have been arrested. Smoking crack unto itself isn't illegal, possessing it is and Ford can probably claim it was someone else who had it and he just happened to be in a drunken stupor and had a few hits. As evidence from polling numbers he still has a good chance to win re-election. So if someone or a group were trying to use this for say a big contract, it probably wouldn't work because the tape isn't damaging enough. But Rob Ford is rich so trying to get some money out of it would be much more feasible.

The other thing with that situation, when organized crime is involved in getting contracts or whatever, is that those are almost always a co-operating effort and not a coercive one. Usually its bribery to the public official and not blackmail in order to obtain the contract. And if its blackmail it has to be something career threatening which again this really isn't. Damaging, but it won't ruin him.

The point about Montreal has more to do with the level of organized crime there. Most of the top level Cosa Nostra guys in Canada are based out of Montreal and they would be the kinds of guys who are more likely to be involved in political corruption than the kinds of midlevel guys a city like Toronto would have. Drug gangs and biker gangs almost certainly have no interest in political corruption.