Robert Bruce Ford (born May 28, 1969)
is a Canadian politician and businessperson and is currently a Toronto City
Councillor. He was Mayor of Toronto, Ontario, from 2010 to 2014. Prior to being
mayor, Ford was a city councillor. He was first elected to City Council in the
2000 Toronto municipal election, and was re-elected to his council seat twice.
At first discounted as a potential mayor, Ford was elected mayor in 2010.
During his political career, Ford has been the subject of a number of
personal and work-related controversies and legal proceedings, including a
conflict of interest trial that nearly resulted in his being removed from
office. In 2013, he became embroiled in a substance abuse scandal which was widely reported in the national and
international media.Ford initially denied the allegations, but after a 2013
Toronto Police Service gang investigation led to police discovering videos of
Ford, he admitted to all of the incidents, including public drunkenness,
drinking and driving, and illegal drug use. Ford admitted to smoking crack
cocaine "probably in one of my drunken stupors”.
Following his admission, Ford refused to resign. Not allowed by law to
remove Ford from office, Toronto City Council voted to remove certain mayoral
powers from Ford and grant them to Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly for the remainder of
Ford's term. Council also voted to reduce Ford's office staff and move those
staff to Kelly's office.Despite the scandal, Ford promised to "continue doing
the job he was elected to do" and contest the next mayoral election,
scheduled for October 2014. On January 2, 2014, Ford registered to run for
re-election. From May 1 through June 30, 2014, Ford took a leave of absence
from his position as Mayor and from his campaign for re-election to enter drug
rehabilitation. After being hospitalized and diagnosed with an abdominal tumour
in September 2014, Ford withdrew from the mayoral race and registered instead
to run for his old seat on the City Council.[