Daniel Dale drops libel suit against Rob Ford

Rob Ford is off the hook for insinuating Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale is a pedophile. Dale says he's dropping the case against the mayor after he receive a second, written apology. "I won't be taking legal action against the mayor, and I'm looking forward to getting back to work," he said in a tweet.

In his letter, Ford says he had "no basis" for saying Dale was in his backyard or looking over his fence. "I apologize to Mr. Dale for the inaccurate manner in which I described the incident of May 2012," he wrote, using his official city letterhead.

"There was absolutely no basis for the statement I made about Mr. Dale taking pictures of children, or for any insinuations I made. I should not have said what I did and I wholly retract my statements and apologize to Mr. Dale without reservation for what I said," he added.

Dale said he would be continuing the case against Vision TV, which twice aired the controversial interview with Conrad Black. "I have little kids. When a guy's taking pictures of little kids, I don't want to say the word, but you start thinking, you know, what's this guy all about," Ford said while recalling an incident near his home in 2012.

A police investigation found no evidence Dale was on the mayor's property or looking over his fence.

Ford's initial apology, which he made before council yesterday, blamed the media for the way it had interpreted his words. "I wish to sincerely apologize to Mr. Dale if my actual words have caused him any harm or personal offence," he said.

Should Ford have just apologized and spared himself the hassle? Does this letter go far enough? Is Daniel Dale right to pursue the case against Vision TV?

Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.

Image: Chris Bateman/blogTO