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I want to take Rob Ford to task for the way he described people of Asian descent on the floor of Toronto Council this week.

It's not as easy as it seems. Because while it's true that Ford's remarks were offensive - it was clear, I think, to everyone that the councillor from Ward 2 (Etobicoke North) was speaking kindly and with admiration.

What he said ("Those Oriental people work like dogs. They work their hearts out. They are workers non-stop. They sleep beside their machines. That's why they're successful in life� I tell you. Oriental people. They're slowly taking over.") can, once the hurtful metaphor is drained from it, be parsed down to this astute and complimentary observation: People in some Asian countries work very hard compared to many of us in North America, and people who work hard may out-compete people who do not.

For all that, I still want to take Ford to task. And I'm not alone. Mayor David Miller yesterday demanded that Ford make a public apology on the floor of Toronto Council, the same place he made the remarks. To suggest, as Ford did, that it's simply a matter of a poor choice of words, misses the point.

Words hurt - and in matters of race relations, particular words have immense capacity to deliver hurt. There is a word for describing African-Canadians and -Americans so hurtful that I shudder even at identifying it by its first initial. There are other words that we've all heard tossed around the schoolyard for describing people from east and south Asia that are just as ugly.

Ford didn't use any of those awful terms. But in describing people from Asian countries as "Orientals," comparing them to dogs and suggesting that they will one day "take over" - Ford echoed antiquated stereotypes that Asian Canadians have worked long and hard to overcome. He recalled a time that was, frankly, a good deal friendlier to casual and hurtful racism, and a good deal less friendly to people of colour.

And it's at the very least an uncomfortable recollection. There are on Toronto Council three councillors of Asian descent - Ward 34 (Don Valley East) Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, Ward 41 (Scarborough Rouge River) Councillor Chin Lee and Ward 42 (Scarborough Rouge River) Councillor Raymond Cho. All three were in their seats when Rob Ford rose to speak. They all know Ford well, having watched his frequently histrionic speeches over the years. But still�

"I know Rob Ford and I think he was trying to express that 'Orientals' are working hard, but when he says oh, they're slowly taking over� I think it's totally off balance, an inappropriate expression," said Cho, who came to Canada from Korea 41 years ago. "I was thinking of standing up and confronting him, but we were getting tired - and I thought the best thing to do is just ignore him. But when you hear this kind of thing, it doesn't help anybody."

Chin Lee described the speech as "locker room kind of language. Knowing Rob Ford, sometimes he's not careful of the words he says, he doesn't even pretend to be politically correct. It's a downfall on his part and he needs to come out and publicly apologize. He cannot have the excuse that his English is not good, because it's his mother tongue."

Denzil Minnan-Wong, like the others, acknowledged that Ford was trying to be nice. But, he said, "Rob Ford often speaks without thinking and he shouldn't have said what he said. But it wasn't malicious in its intent. So I think that Rob should be remorseful. It's regrettable, but we should just move on."

It doesn't seem likely that Ford will be making a public apology anytime soon. When I spoke with him today, he admitted to using terms that were politically incorrect, but didn't feel he'd said anything that warranted a public apology. If individuals were offended, he said they ought to call him and he would apologize personally.

I'd suggest that Torontonians who feel that way take him up on the offer. He told me he returns phone calls to his office within 24 hours. So if you feel that you're owed an apology, take him up on the offer. And take Councillor Ford to task.