Father defends woman allegedly involved in Rob Ford scandal
The parents of a 23-year-old woman are defending their daughter’s ties to Rob Ford after she was dragged into the Toronto mayor’s ongoing scandal and accused of being a prostitute.
“Of course it’s not true,” Peter Kindree said Thursday, maintaining his daughter is not in the sex trade.
Alana Kindree’s name surfaced this week in court documents detailing Toronto Police witness interviews during their probe into the now notorious video of the mayor smoking crack cocaine.
Among those questioned was former Ford staffer Isaac Ransom, who claimed the mayor’s much publicized St. Paddy’s Day bash began in his office at City Hall and included several people, including “a woman named Alana, who may have been an escort or prostitute.”
“She’s a good girl,” said Alana’s obviously shaken father at the front door to his home.
He believes there’s a logical reason why Alana, who turns 24 next month and no longer lives at home, may have been in the mayor’s office on March 17, 2012.
“She was Miss (Toronto) Tourism at the time,” Peter said. “I’m sure it was just a little PR work.”
Alana’s online social media profiles indicate she was crowned Miss Toronto Tourism 2010.
In her role as a spokesman for tourism, she attended events around the city and likely could have become acquainted with the mayor.
Ransom also alleged to police Alana and the mayor’s friend Peter Kordas “had hash and pot” that night and staff had to stop Ford from smoking it with them before they headed off to the Bier Markt.
The mayor, who was angry when he arrived at City Hall Thursday, also rushed to Alana’s defence.
“I don’t appreciate people calling Alana a prostitute,” Ford said, adding he’s “never had a prostitute here” and he is “happily married.”
But neither Ford nor Alana’s dad would elaborate on the odd relationship.
On various social media sites, Alana lists herself as an environmentalist, artist and animal rights activist who has a university degree in environmental studies.
But her Twitter feed, which was taken down Thursday, used the alias Alana Sasha and had a link to an online dating service.
Peter said he and his wife have been bombarded by media trying to track down their daughter, who so far hasn’t commented, and they are upset by what has been in the news.
“They’re saying some nasty things and we’re not happy about it,” he said. “It’s getting out of control.”
