Mayor Rob Ford faces libel lawsuit from Toronto Star reporter (VIDEO)

Rob Ford is standing by his comments despite a Toronto Star reporter threatening legal action after the mayor accused him of trying to photograph his children in their home.

Daniel Dale served the embattled mayor with a libel notice late Thursday, the first step in a potential lawsuit, after Ford appeared on television and accused the journalist of stalking his children.

“As the mayor likes to say: Enough is enough,” Dale writes in a column on the matter. “It had become clear to me that, if I had done nothing, the mayor would make his smears some sort of political talking point.”

Dale has also asked for an apology from Vision TV, the station that broadcast an interview between fallen media baron Conrad Black and Ford.

If Dale doesn’t get his apologies, the parties will appear in court. While Ford never says the word, Dale says he was insinuating “that I am a pedophile.”

Dale said he wasn’t going to sue until Ford repeated the comments Thursday on an American radio station.

“Daniel Dale is in my backyard taking pictures,” Ford said Monday, according to Agence France-Presse. “I have little kids. He’s taking pictures of little kids. I don’t want to say that word, but you start thinking what this guy is all about.”

More from GlobalPost: Mayor Rob Ford has 2,200 phone calls to return

The incident sprang from a May 2, 2012, confrontation between Dale and Ford at the mayor’s home.

Ford was trying to purchase land adjacent to his property at the time, and Dale was there to inspect the property.

The mayor accused Dale of lurking in his backyard, and photographing the family. The reporter abjectly denied the accusation, and gave police his phone to inspect.

A detective at the scene found no pictures of Ford or his family, Dale said.

In other Ford-related developments this week:

His brother, Doug, was filmed by a CBC News crew handing out $20 bills at a community gathering.

Doug Ford is also a Toronto city councilor.

He said he didn’t have time to buy gift cards, so he instead shared a “couple of hundred” dollars he had in his wallet.

His fellow council members accused Doug of buying votes, but he said that’s impossible since he’s not running in the next election.

“If I offended anyone, I apologize. I’m just trying to do some good for people,” Doug said.

Also, former Washington, DC, mayor Marion Barry – no stranger to crack cocaine or controversy – threatened to call police when a reporter asked him about Rob Ford this week.

“Take that camera out of my face, right now,” said the 77-year-old Barry, now a DC council member.

More from GlobalPost: Rob Ford may have offered to buy crack video for $5,000, car