Rob Ford, who became known across the globe for his drunken antics and his admission wile Mayor of Toronto that he had smoked crack, died Tuesday of cancer, his family announced.
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He was a man who spoke his mind and who ran for office because of the deeply felt convictions that he had.
All flags on official poles at Toronto civic centres, including city hall, will be flown at half-mast in tribute to Ford, the mayor said.
“With heavy hearts and profound sadness, the Ford family announces the passing of their beloved son, brother, husband and father”, his family said in a statement. He cast an image sharply at odds with Canada’s reputation for sedate, unpretentious politics.
Robert Bruce Ford was born May 28, 1969, in Toronto.
Always in the news for his personal or political actions since his four-year term as mayor began in 2010 – he did not run for the office in 2014 because of the cancer diagnosis – Ford certainly put Toronto on the global map, for better or worse.
As for whether Ford made peace with the world before he departed, that is now between him and his God.
Hudak, who had as former PC leader had a front row seat to the ex-mayor’s epic battles with the Liberal government at Queen’s Park, said Ford pushed harder than any politician to get a subway for the residents of Scarborough. When he emerged from rehab in the summer of 2014, he vowed to stay in office, saying he loved his job and that it wouldn’t interfere with his recovery.
Crack mayor: Ford gained global notoriety in 2013, when a video surfaced appearing to show the then-Toronto mayor smoking crack-cocaine.
Milczyn described Ford as genial among his city hall colleagues.
Saddened to learn that former Toronto mayor Rob Ford has passed away.
Ford admitted in November that he had used the drug.
Minnan-Wong says he knows the Ford will be remembered for many things – both the bad and the good. Ford and crack cocaine Ford controversy included lies about public behavior, racial slurs, refusing to attend Gay Pride, and off-color remarks about women.
Ford mayor met his wife, Renata, in high school, and they were married in 2000.
The piece was based on the idea that the “next Rob Ford” could be the President of the United States and credits Ford with an accidental political revolution.
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As part of his agenda of saving “money for the taxpayer”, Ford outsourced half the city’s residential waste collection to the private sector and pushed to cut council budgets. He first went into the family business, working at the Deco Label & Tags printing firm.
