Former Toronto mayor Rob Ford dies after fighting cancer
Former Toronto mayor Rob Ford dies after battle with cancer
(35 minutes later)
TORONTO — Rob Ford, the pugnacious, populist former mayor of Toronto whose career crashed in a drug-driven, obscenity-laced debacle, died Tuesday after fighting cancer, his family said. He was 46.
Rob Ford, who gained international notoriety during his scandal-ridden term as mayor of Toronto, died after a battle with cancer, officials announced Tuesday.
Ford rode into office on a backlash against urban elites. He cast an image sharply at odds with Canada’s reputation for sedate, unpretentious politics. His tenure as mayor of the country’s largest city was marred by revelations about his drinking problems and illegal drug use. He was repeatedly videotaped and photographed while intoxicated in public.
The 46-year-old was diagnosed with pleomorphic liposarcoma two years ago and was forced to bow out of a reelection bid for the mayor's office. He ran for city council instead and won.
Nevertheless, after losing that office he was later elected by a landslide to a City Council seat, a job he held until his death.
In 2013, then-Mayor Ford admitted to smoking crack cocaine after months of denials. His admission sparked international media attention but he refused to resign, saying the incident took place during one of his "drunken stupors." He went to rehab for two months.
One after another, his statements and actions became nightly fodder for TV comedians and an embarrassment to many of the suburbanites he championed. Among the more notable:
[Rob Ford is back from rehab, ‘ashamed, embarrassed and humiliated.’ But he’s not done yet.]
— Knocking over a 63-year-old female city councilor while rushing to the defense of his brother, Councilor Doug Ford, who was insulting spectators in the council chamber.
Ford won his Ward 2 city council seat in 2014, capturing 59 percent of the vote, CNN reported.
— Threatening “murder” in a profane, incoherent rant captured by video.
"His time in City Hall included moments of kindness, of generosity to his council colleagues and real efforts to do what he thought was best for Toronto," Mayor John Tory said in a statement. "He was, above all else, a profoundly human guy whose presence in our city will be missed."
— Swearing and slurring his words, calling the police chief a derogatory name and trying to imitate a Jamaican accent in a different video.
Tory added: "On behalf of the people of the City of Toronto, I offer my sincere condolences to his loved ones at this time."
But his popularity continued. Even after a scandal broke about Ford’s use of crack, hundreds of people lined up for bobblehead dolls of the mayor, signed by Ford himself. Ford spent countless hours taking pictures with residents eager to be photographed with an international celebrity.
Uncle Rob, You have fought the good fight long enough and now can rest in peace. Love you and will forever miss you. pic.twitter.com/3tIM0KZJdK — Michael Ford (@MichaelFordTO) March 22, 2016
As he sought a second term as mayor in 2014, Ford was diagnosed with a rare cancer just two months before the election date. Malignant liposarcoma in his abdomen forced him to do what months of scandals could not — drop his bid for re-election. He underwent a series of aggressive chemotherapy treatments.
Uncle Rob, You have fought the good fight long enough and now can rest in peace. Love you and will forever miss you. pic.twitter.com/3tIM0KZJdK
“With heavy hearts and profound sadness, the Ford family announces the passing of their beloved son, brother, husband, and father, Councillor Rob Ford, earlier today at the age of 46,” a statement from his family said Tuesday. “A dedicated man of the people, Councillor Ford spent his life serving the citizens of Toronto.”
— Michael Ford (@MichaelFordTO) March 22, 2016
Current Toronto Mayor John Tory said in a statement that “the city is reeling with this news.”
Ford leaves behind two young children and a wife, according to the Toronto Star. He died early Tuesday, according to a statement from his city council office shared by a Star reporter.
“He was a man who spoke his mind and who ran for office because of the deeply felt convictions that he had,” Tory said. “I know there are many who were affected by his gregarious nature and approach to public service.”
"A dedicated man of the people, Councillor Ford spent his life serving the citizens of Toronto," the statement read. "The family asks that you respect their privacy and join them in their grieving and their prayers."
When Ford was elected mayor in 2010, his bluster was widely known. A plurality of voters backed him, eager to shake things up at a City Hall they viewed as elitist and wasteful. Ford’s voter base resided mainly in the outer suburbs, a result of the Conservative provincial government’s decision to force liberal Toronto to merge with five of its neighboring municipalities in 1998, creating a mega-city that now has 2.7 million residents.
Last week, Ford Chief of Staff Dan Jacobs told the Associated Press that the councillor had undergone about 10 rounds of chemotherapy and doctors were evaluating whether he had the strength to endure more.
Ford appealed to conservative-leaning, working-class suburban residents with his populist, common-man touch and with promises to slash spending, cut taxes and end what he called “the war on the car.” He first won as mayor by promising to “stop the gravy train” of government spending.
Ford had declared on numerous occasions his intentions to run for mayor in 2018, should his health allow.
His supporters got perhaps more turmoil than they expected.
[Rob Ford’s scandal-filled mayoral years, through the eyes of people who lost. To him.]
The international spotlight fell on Ford in May 2013, when Toronto Star and the U.S. website Gawker reported the existence of a video that appeared to show the mayor inhaling from a crack pipe. He denied the existence of the video but later backtracked when police said they had obtained it. Although he became the subject of a police investigation, Ford was never charged with a crime.
The conservative-leaning Ford was elected as mayor in 2010 as he promised to cut government spending. His time in office was strikingly at odds with the typical image of calm Canadian politics. He made controversial statements, including an obscenity-laden a rant in which he threatened murder, and spoke about oral sex on live television.
“Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine,” Ford told reporters after he stepped off an elevator. “But, no, do I? Am I addict? No. Have I tried it? Probably in one of my drunken stupors, probably approximately about a year ago.”
Ford was investigated by police amid the crack smoking revelations, but was never charged. The council stripped Ford, then mayor, of most of his powers.
According to police interviews, members of Ford’s staff accused the mayor of frequently drinking, driving while intoxicated and making sexual advances toward a female staffer.
In 2014, after he won his city council seat, Ford was asked by reporters to reflect on his tenure as mayor.
Ford drew gasps when he used crude language on live television to deny telling a staffer he wanted to have oral sex. The father of two school-age children said he was “happily married” and that he enjoys enough oral sex at home.
“It will definitely be remembered, put it that way,” Ford said laughing, according to the Star. “No one’s going to forget it.”
Disgusted city councilors turned their backs on Ford in a council meeting that day. Jon Stewart played the oral sex remark clip that night on the “Daily Show” and yelled, “What? What?! What?! WHAT!? WHAT!?”
He added: “They’re going to remember it the way they want to remember it. A lot of it’s, you know, personal choice. People know that I saved a lot of money and people are going to know that I had a few personal struggles and so you can remember it for what you want, but they’re definitely going to remember it.”
Despite immense pressure, Ford refused to resign. The City Council stripped Ford of most of his powers but lacked the authority to force him out of office because he wasn’t convicted of a crime.
[This post has been updated.]
Ford announced he was entering rehab in April 2014 after newspaper reports detailed three different nights in which the mayor was extremely intoxicated. One report cited a video that appeared to show him again smoking a crack pipe.
Although his cancer ultimately forced him to drop his re-election bid, Ford opted to seek his old City Council seat. It was in the same suburban district where he launched his political career and where his everyman style and conservative fiscal policies first gained a faithful following that became known as Ford Nation. He won his old seat in a landslide. His brother Doug replaced him on the ballot for mayor but lost.
The youngest of four children, Rob Ford grew up in a palatial home in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke. He dropped out of university after a year and worked at the family business.
Ford mayor met his wife, Renata, in high school, and they were married in 2000. One of Renata Ford’s few forays into the media spotlight came in 2008 after a widely reported domestic dispute with her husband. Rob Ford was charged with assault and threatening death, but prosecutors withdrew the charges, citing inconsistencies in Renata Ford’s statements.
Ford is survived by his wife and two children, Stephanie and Doug.
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