The Globe and Mail: Official word of his death came from a source close to the family. His passing marks the end of a rare political actor whose everyman persona, budget-slashing agenda and very public substance-abuse issues inspired both intense loyalty and deep loathing among the city’s diverse electorate.
It also ends an 18-month struggle with cancer.
Mr. Ford had been diagnosed with pleomorphic liposarcoma, a rare form of soft-tissue cancer, in September of 2014, amid a heated re-election battle. The illness forced him to withdraw his candidacy for a second term to focus on cancer treatments....
The son of a well-known Etobicoke businessman and former provincial MPP, Mr. Ford left the family label business to win a council seat in 2000. Re-elected twice, he turned his attentions to the mayoralty in 2010, launching a long-shot campaign for the city’s highest office. He quickly tapped into a vein of suburban resentment toward urban elements of the recently amalgamated megacity, and trounced his nearest opponent.
His small-government agenda ran afoul of left-wing politicians and unions, but his bedrock of support – which he affectionately referred to as Ford Nation – only began to erode in May, 2013, after stories emerged on the U.S. website Gawker and the Toronto Star about a video showing the mayor smoking what appeared to be crack cocaine. The revelations touched off a Toronto Police investigation and a ceaseless lampooning on U.S. late-night talk shows hosted by the likes of Jon Stewart, Jimmy Kimmel and Jay Leno.
Mr. Ford vehemently denied the accusations until abruptly reversing himself in November, admitting to a throng of reporters, “Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine.”
Though damning details eventually emerged from the police investigation and a second crack video eventually surfaced, Mr. Ford maintained surprising support until his cancer diagnosis.
5 comments:
Chris Farley was there to greet him with open arms as they walked through the pearly gates.
In a van by the river!
In my mind, I can't separate the two men, and I think he would laugh his fat ass off at "In a van by the River".
"You're not going to amount to JACK. SQUAT."
-Matt Foley, Motivational Speaker
It takes every kind of people
To make what life's about
RIP Robert Ford. A life lived loudly and without any particularly relevant boundaries.
I fuckin loved that guy and had no idea he was sick. America will never be sane until any elected official anywhere in this land can have the grit to say this.
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