The global spotlight fell on Ford in May 2013, when the Toronto Star and the US website Gawker reported the existence of the video, igniting revelations about Ford’s drinking and illegal drug problems. That charge was dropped on Thursday, leading to the publication ban being lifted.
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This unedited video contains drug use and profane language.
The video shows Ford smoking a crack pipe and mumbling about his family and politics, including Justin Trudeau.
Ford also says he’s mad about the misconception that he’s a right wing radical.
Months later police said they had seized the video during a guns and gang investigation in the city. Despite the complaints of ethicists, the Canadian public, eager to resolve the question of whether the mayor of the largest city in Canada smoked crack, enthusiastically met the fundraising goal. “I don’t know if that camera’s not on”, Ford says near the end of the short video.
October 25, 2010: Ford is elected as mayor with just over 47 per cent of the vote, riding a wave of populist support built on his promise to end the “gravy train” and cut government waste. But he tells AM640 the next day: “I’m not an alcoholic, I’m not a drug addict”.
Elena Basso, a resident of the Etobicoke home where the video was shot, can be heard encouraging Ford to stand strong under public scrutiny.
Rob Ford served as one of Toronto’s most colorful mayors from 2010 through 2014, when his re-election bid was derailed by the liposarcoma that he would eventually die from.
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As part of the resolution, Lisi has agreed to abide by certain conditions, which include keeping the peace, maintaining good behaviour and not having contact with certain individuals involved in his efforts to retrieve the Ford “crack video”. Following a stint in rehab, he discovered he had cancer in 2014 and bowed out of the mayoral race, but he ran and won his previous position as city councilor.
