A tragicomic scrapbook of Rob Ford’s crazy, blunder-filled mayoralty
A tragicomic scrapbook of Rob Ford’s crazy, blunder-filled mayoralty
We expected a bumpy ride with Ford as mayor, but we weren’t prepared for a self-sabotaging Lindsay Lohan of politics. With a new scandal every week, it’s easy to lose track. Hence, we present a scrapbook of two very long years in Fordlandia.
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- The entire city has turned into an army of amateur paparazzi, competing to snap the mayor in flagrante delicto and posting the evidence on social media.
- FORD, CAUGHT IN THE ACT
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- <strong>Party Animal, Part 1</strong><br /> <br /> More than one camera phone caught Ford meandering along Front Street late in August 2011 after attending a minor league football game. A YouTube video shows the mayor sweaty and dazed. At one point he even lets a sexy blonde nuzzle up to him, and no, we’re not talking about Doug.<br />
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- <strong>Oenophile</strong><br /><br /> Spotting the mayor at the LCBO has become something of a civic pastime, with mayoral foes like Adam Vaughan calling him out for hooch shopping in the middle of the work day. Here, Ford smiles for the camera with a couple of young fans. The photo, along with the caption “Oh em gee. Just met Rob Ford at the Weston LCBO. #epic #Toronto #getsmyvote” was posted on Instagram. Zero “likes” to date.<br />
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- <strong>Bargain Hunter</strong><br /><br /> The mayor or his look-alike is spotted in a Walmart checkout line wearing his jammies. The snap appeared on the blog People of Walmart, along with a caption concluding that all Torontonians must dress like hungover university students.<br />
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- <strong>Multitasker</strong><br /><br /> Ford’s explanation after getting snapped reading behind the wheel on the Gardiner while making his early morning commute: “I’m busy.” That incident, along with an altercation with a streetcar driver, caused the police department and even brother Doug to suggest that the mayor find a driver. Ever the gravy rejecter, he refused.<br />
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- <strong>Colonel Fan</strong><br /><br /> Four months and several unsuccessful weigh-ins into his Cut the Waist challenge, the mayor gets caught with his hand in the red and white bucket. The shooter of a 42-second clip that shows Ford entering a KFC says she took and distributed the video because it was yet another example of a broken promise. Asked about the incident, Ford said, “That is the stupidest question I have ever heard.” Brother Doug called the jeering unfair, and the mayor’s office declined to comment on what was in the bag.<br />
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- <strong>Party Animal, Part 2</strong><br /><br /> His future as mayor was hanging in the balance, but Ford appeared unfazed when he was photographed last December by a lawyer named George Gray at Bloke and 4th, a swanky pub on King West. The picture was retweeted 200 times in the first hour. Gray took it down a few hours later, saying, “Deleted blokegate pic b/c I try to keep my Twitter about things I’m truly passionate about.”<br />
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- <strong>Party Animal, Part 3</strong><br /><br /> Ford and his former mayoral rival Sarah Thomson posed for this snap at a Canadian Jewish Political Affairs party. A couple of hours later she posted the pic on Facebook along with her version of events: that the mayor insinuated Thomson should have vacationed in Florida with him because his wife wasn’t there (wink, wink), then copped a feel. Ford went on the radio to deny the allegation and express concern she isn’t “playing with a full deck.”<br />
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- Our embattled mayor endured threats—real and perceived—at his Etobicoke home and lived to tell about it. Here, a measure of his furious reaction.
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- <strong>The enemy:</strong> Mary Walsh, a.k.a. Marg Delahunty, princess warrior.<br /><br /> <strong>The incident:</strong> Monday, October 24, 2011, approximately 8 a.m. Walsh and her <em>This Hour Has 22 Minutes</em> film crew approached Ford in his driveway. “Mayor Ford!” she said. “It’s me, Marg Delahunty!” He retreated inside and placed two 911 calls, in which he reportedly said he was “being attacked.” When asked if the assailants had weapons, Ford replied, “They’ve got cameras.” The cops arrived and found that Ford and his alleged attackers were nowhere to be seen. “I waited 15 fucking minutes!” Ford explained when a 911 dispatcher called him back. “I’m on my way down to city hall.”<br /><br /> <strong>The reaction:</strong> Within image.<br />
- (Photo: Courtesy of CBC)
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- FORD UNDER SIEGE
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- <strong>The enemy:</strong> Within, part 1.<br /><br /> <strong>The incident:</strong> Tuesday, October 25, 2011, 10:17 p.m. <br /> A day after the Marg Delahunty ambush, police from 22 Division were called back to the Ford home—this time by Ford’s wife, Renata, over what police called a verbal altercation. Three days later, the mister and missus travelled to Guadalajara, Mexico, to represent Toronto at the 2011 Pan Am Games.<br /><br /> <strong>The reaction:</strong> Within image.<br />
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- <strong>The enemy:</strong> Within, part 2.<br /><br /> <strong>The incident:</strong> Sunday, December 25, 2011, approximately 4:30 a.m. Two months to the day after Renata Ford’s 911 call, police received a call from Renata’s mother, Henryka Brejniak. Apparently Ford—who had been drinking, according to his mother-in-law—tried to take the kids to the airport for a planned trip to Florida against his wife’s wishes. (Renata reportedly had a plane ticket as well, but became uncomfortable at the thought of travelling.) Reached in Florida a few days after the incident, Ford said he was having a great time with his kids, Stephanie and Douglas. “Look,” he told the <em>Toronto Sun,</em> “I think you know a lot of people who have problems behind closed doors.”<br /><br /> <strong>The reaction:</strong> Within image.<br />
- (Photo: Getstock)
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- <strong>The enemy:</strong> Scott MacIntyre, former common-law husband of Ford’s sister, Kathy.<br /><br /> <strong>The incident:</strong> Wednesday, January 11, 2012, 8 a.m. Two and a half weeks after Ford’s mother-in-law dialed 911, police at 22 Division responded to yet another call—this one from Ford’s neighbour, who spotted a suspicious car outside the mayor’s house. The owner of the car, whom Ford called an “unwelcome visitor,” forced his way into the house. Ford “advised him to leave,” which he did. A search for the suspect ensued, during which about 12 police cars kept vigil in Ford’s neighbourhood. MacIntyre was eventually arrested in Mississauga and charged with two counts of uttering death threats. Those charges were dropped. He did plead guilty to forcible entry and spent five months in jail.<br /><br /> <strong>The reaction:</strong> Within image.<br />
- (Photo: Getstock)
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- <strong>The enemy:</strong> Daniel Dale, <em>Toronto Star</em> reporter.<br /><br /> <strong>The incident:</strong> Wednesday, May 2, 2012, 7:45 p.m. After the mayor applied to purchase a piece of public land next to his house from the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority—for the purpose of installing a security fence—Dale decided to visit the property. Ford’s ever-vigilant neighbours alerted the mayor to the curious onlooker peering over his back fence. Ford allegedly charged at the reporter with a cocked fist—prompting the <em>Star</em> to devote a disproportionate amount of ink to the story. “Enough is enough,” Ford said. “I have to protect my family.” Brother Doug calls for more security around the mayor’s abode.<br /><br /> <strong>The reaction:</strong> Within image.<br />
- (Photo: Getstock)
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- Like Churchill and Eisenhower before him, Ford uses the airwaves to spread his wartime message, co-hosting a Newstalk 1010 show with his brother Doug. Here, an attempt to translate the inimitable Fordian vernacular.
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- <strong>Beef No. 1:</strong> Uncooperative councillors casting doubt on his ability to secure funding for his subway expansion schemes.<br /> <br /> <strong>What he said:</strong> “I’m not going to just invent a new tax....Folks, there’s no way I am gonna implement one of these taxes before I go to you, the public.”<br /><br /> <strong>What he meant:</strong> “It’s true I just published an op-ed in the <em>Globe and Mail</em> in which, in order to save my transit plan, I proposed a $90-million parking tax. However, council voted to ditch the plan, and now I disown any previous statements about new revenue sources. They are unrepentant tax-and-spend communists, and I refuse to give in to their demands.”
- (Photo: QMI Agency)
- FORD DECODED
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- <strong>Beef No. 2:</strong> A proposal by medical officer of health David McKeown to save lives by lowering speed limits.<br /><br /> <strong>What he said:</strong> “Enough is enough, folks. You know, we’re not reducing the speed limit. This is nuts. I don’t even know why we’re paying this person. How much does the medical officer of health make? Is it $280,000 a year? That’s just an embarrassment. As a mayor, I’ll look into that and try to straighten things out.”<br /><br /> <strong>What he meant:</strong> “I didn’t appoint this guy, and if he wants to keep his job he’d better not double the amount of time it takes me to drive to work—as it is, I already get in enough trouble in my car. Anyway, isn’t health a provincial responsibility?”
- (Photo: QMI Agency)
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- <strong>Beef No. 3:</strong> That the producers of his Newstalk 1010 show corrected his statements about a trade mission to Chicago during a news break.<br /><br /> <strong>What he said:</strong> “They’re pathological liars....Even today, we talk for about an hour on Chicago, and these guys come out and put advertising out about expenses.”<br /><br /> <strong>What he meant:</strong> “It’s disrespectful of my producers to correct me in the middle of my very own show. It may be true that I don’t know, for a fact, that the city won’t be covering councillors’ travel expenses. But I’m mayor, and they should trust that if anyone here can save the taxpayers money, it’s me.”
- (Photo: QMI Agency)
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- <strong>Beef No. 4:</strong> The Danzig street party shooters.<br /><br /> <strong>What he said:</strong> “I don’t care if you’re white, pink or purple. I don’t care what country you’re from. I don’t care if you’re a Canadian citizen or not. All I’m saying is, if you’re caught with a gun and convicted of a gun crime, I want you out of this city.”<br /><br /> <strong>What he meant:</strong> “I would like to exploit the moment and paint myself as tough-on-crime by insinuating that I will banish these killers, even if they’re Canadian citizens and I can do no such thing, from our fair city. Let Mississauga deal with them.”
- (Photo: QMI Agency)
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- <strong>Beef No. 5:</strong> Reporters’ questions about whether, after his series of scandals and court challenges, he can muster enough council support.<br /><br /> <strong>What he said:</strong> “It is so dysfunctional, council at times, 44 of them, it goes on and on and on. Let’s streamline it.”<br /><br /> <strong>What he meant:</strong> “If I want to get anything done I need more friends at City Hall. Let’s retire Adam Vaughan, Gord Perks and Karen Stintz, for starters.”
- (Photo: QMI Agency)
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- The mayor approaches every obstacle like an offensive linesman on the gridiron. Here, six of his patented moves.
- (Photo: Getstock)
- FORD’S PLAYBOOK
- FORD’S PLAYBOOK
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- <strong>Queen’s Park Screen Pass</strong><br /><br /> Bypass standard channels and have your aide, Earl Provost, send a tersely worded email to the infrastructure minister’s senior advisor, demanding that Queen’s Park pony up $2.8 million to refurbish the field where your high school football team, the Don Bosco Eagles, practises.
- (Illustration: Bradley Reinhardt)
- FORD’S PLAYBOOK
- FORD’S PLAYBOOK
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- <strong>Etobicoke Blitz</strong><br /><br /> When some 20 councillors gather at your mother’s house in Etobicoke to urge her to convince you to give up your football fixation and refocus on what they call “governing the city,” boldly deflect. Declare, “I’m not going to stop coaching. I’m not turning my back on these kids.”
- (Illustration: Bradley Reinhardt)
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- FORD’S PLAYBOOK
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- <strong>City Hall Sneak</strong><br />When your colleagues gather again at city hall to debate matters such as the future of transit in the GTA, slip out the side door and drive to the Eagles’ semifinal. Optional: catch up on some light reading on the way.
- (Illustration: Bradley Reinhardt)
- FORD’S PLAYBOOK
- FORD’S PLAYBOOK
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- <strong>TTC Scramble</strong><br /><br /> If your players are left without a ride home when the Eagles’ semifinal ends early due to a fight, don’t object when police call the TTC to request emergency transportation. Call TTC commissioner twice. Remain steadfast even when the TTC boots 50 paying customers from an in-service bus to clear space for the mighty Eagles.
- (Illustration: Bradley Reinhardt)
- FORD’S PLAYBOOK
- FORD’S PLAYBOOK
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- <strong>Conflict of Interest Flea Flicker</strong><br />Use your power as a city official to raise a little cash for new football equipment. If your colleagues think that’s not kosher, vote against their integrity motion in council. If left-wingers deem that a conflict of interest, hire a powerful lawyer to fight the charge. If you lose the case, appeal. Claim over and over that you are “only trying to help these kids.”
- (Illustration: Bradley Reinhardt)
- FORD’S PLAYBOOK
- FORD’S PLAYBOOK
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- <strong>Photo Op Phantom Sack</strong><br />When the CFL rolls into town for the 100th Grey Cup, run around on turf outside city hall. Line up opposite your brother and press secretary, bark out some cool-sounding play calls—maybe, “Yellow 80! Yellow 80!”—then backpedal as fast as you can. If you fall flat on your face, make a joke about how much padding you’ve got.
- (Illustration: Bradley Reinhardt)
- FORD’S PLAYBOOK
- FORD’S PLAYBOOK
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- They stayed by his side, even when he was on the brink of impeachment, and remain his fiercest defenders.
- TEAM FORD
- TEAM FORD
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- <strong>Tim Hudak</strong><br /><br /> <em>Ontario PC leader, coattail rider</em><br /><br /> A team player by necessity—he needs the support of Ford Nation to become premier. Appeared at city hall in mid-October to parrot the mayor’s subway mantra. Surfaced again the day after Ford’s conflict of interest conviction to say the punishment didn’t fit the crime and to defend Ford’s record.<br />
- (Photo: Getstock)
- TEAM FORD
- TEAM FORD
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- <strong>Tom Barlow</strong><br /><br /> <em>Ford’s lawyer in the campaign finance audit</em><br /><br /> Go-to lawyer for capital-C Conservatives. Represented the Harris government on the sale of Highway 407. Convinced the compliance audit committee that Ford’s $40,168 in overspending was insignificant.<br />
- (Photo: QMI Agency)
- TEAM FORD
- TEAM FORD
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- <strong>Don Cherry</strong><br /><br /> <em>Coach’s Corner barker, pinko antagonist, seventh-greatest Canadian ever</em><br /><br /> Spoke in Ford’s defence in late November at the nadir of his mayoralty, saying that “left-wingers nailed him to the cross and only because of who he is.” Was among the first to call and congratulate Ford.<br />
- (Photo: Getstock)
- TEAM FORD
- TEAM FORD
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- <strong>Cesar Palacio</strong><br /><br /> <em>City councillor, emissary</em><br /><br /> Arguably Ford’s most helpful ally on council floor. Knows where his colleagues’ minds are at. Often sent to argue, plead and solidify support in advance of key votes.<br />
- (Photo: Getstock)
- TEAM FORD
- TEAM FORD
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- <strong>Alan Lenczner</strong><br /><br /> <em>Ford’s lawyer in the conflict of interest case</em><br /><br /> The lawyer other top lawyers turn to when their backs are against the wall took on Ford’s case at Doug’s urging. Lost the initial judgment—due largely to Ford’s sloppy performance on the witness stand—but won on appeal, saving Ford’s job and hide.<br />
- (Photo: Getstock)
- TEAM FORD
- TEAM FORD
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- <strong>Frances Nunziata</strong><br /><br /> <em>City councillor, workhorse, steadfast understudy</em><br /><br /> Loyal since Ford’s 2010 campaign launch, and rewarded handsomely: appointed to executive committee, police services board and community housing board.<br />
- (Photo: Getstock)
- TEAM FORD
- TEAM FORD
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- <strong>Gavin Tighe</strong><br /><br /> <em>Ford’s lawyer in Boardwalk Pub defamation suit</em><br /><br /> Hooked up with Ford through his political junkie colleague at Gardiner Roberts, Stephen Thiele. Convinced a judge to dismiss George Foulidis’ $6-million defamation suit against Ford.<br />
- (Photo: George Hatzipantelis/Gardiner Roberts LLP.)
- TEAM FORD
- TEAM FORD
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- <strong>John Oakley</strong><br /><br /> <em>Outraged AM640 radio host, Ford bagman</em><br /><br /> The mayor’s best friend in the media. Plugs him, celebrates him, and lets the mayor vent on-air about whatever is on his mind. A Ford fundraiser he organized at Harbour 60 was among the questionable items in Ford’s campaign finance audit.<br />
- (Photo: National Post)
- TEAM FORD
- TEAM FORD
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- <strong>Doug Holyday</strong><br /><br /> <em>City councillor, deputy mayor, surrogate dad</em><br /><br /> Minds the store like a pro. Periodically chides Ford for improper conduct and urges him to get his act together, but his political loyalty never wavers. Planned to convince council to reappoint Ford if the courts kicked him out of office. Might have even pulled it off.<br />
- (Photo: Getstock)
- TEAM FORD
- TEAM FORD
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- <strong>Jim Flaherty</strong><br /><br /> <em>Federal finance minister, tightwad-in-arms</em><br /><br /> A close family friend dating back to the Harris years and his time with Rob’s dad, Doug Ford Sr., at Queen’s Park. Roasted at one of the mayor’s famously rollicking backyard barbecues. In late February, after all the legal proceedings and audits had run out of steam, the Ford brothers flew to Chicago for a weekend on the town—with Uncle Jim.<br /><br /><br /> <strong>Doug Ford</strong><br /><br /> <em>City councillor, co-host, kin</em><br /><br /> Skipping Pride Week, dogged by conflict of interest charges, ducking out of executive committee to coach football, vacationing during the budget debate—you can learn about all these controversies in Mayor Ford’s tenure simply by Googling the phrase “Doug Ford defends brother.”<br />
- (Photos: Getstock)
- TEAM FORD
- TEAM FORD
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- What happens when the mayor takes his one-of-a-kind show on the road.
- FORD THE AMBASSADOR
- FORD THE AMBASSADOR
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- <strong>Guadalajara, Mexico</strong><br /><br /> <em>October 28 to 31, 2011</em><br /><br /> After keeping his Guadalajaran fans on tenterhooks for months, Ford finally announced he would make an appearance at the closing ceremonies of the 2011 Pan Am Games for the traditional flag handover. He and his wife, Renata, arrived in Mexico on a Friday and spent the next two days touring the athletes’ village, watching sporting events and attending galas alongside the Governor General, David Johnston. A <em>Toronto Star</em> reporter who was covering the games said that wherever the mayor went, he was given “a rock star’s welcome.” Ford admitted to being nervous at Sunday night’s handover ceremony, but there was no need. Just before the Guadalajaran mayor, Jorge Aristóteles Sandoval Diaz, passed him the Pan Am Games flag, Ford received what had to be the most exciting introduction of his career: “<em>¡Señoras y señores!...Su señoria el alcalde de Toronto</em>—Rob Ford!” Fifty thousand fans went wild.
- (Illustration: PJ McQuade)
- FORD THE AMBASSADOR
- FORD THE AMBASSADOR
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- <strong>Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta</strong><br /><br /> <em>August 16 to 19, 2012</em><br /><br /> Ford chose Alberta for his summer getaway (or “working holiday,” as he called it). A local driver spotted him wandering Edmonton’s streets and offered him a ride. Upon arriving at city hall, Ford thanked the driver and handed him a business card, then dropped in to visit Edmonton’s mayor, Stephen Mandel. Turned out Mandel was out of town—oops! No matter. Two days later, Ford headed to Calgary to pop in on Mayor Naheed Nenshi. Alas, Nenshi was out of town, too. So Ford went to watch the Argos play the Calgary Stampeders. During halftime, the mayor wandered into the Stampeders’ dressing room, mistaking it for the washroom. Afterward, when asked why he hadn’t set up a meeting with Nenshi in advance, Ford stumbled, “I guess he’s away on holidays or something, so they don’t know where he is. Maybe you know where he is? I don’t know where he is. Is he here tonight? I don’t know.”
- (Illustration: PJ McQuade)
- FORD THE AMBASSADOR
- FORD THE AMBASSADOR
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- <strong>Chicago, Illinois</strong><br /><br /> <em>September 18 to 20, 2012</em><br /><br /> Everyone knows Toronto and Chicago have a lot in common. Take our celebrity mayors, for instance. Chicago has Rahm Emanuel, the former chief of staff to Barack Obama. And Toronto has Rob Ford. Out at Millennium Park on the morning of his meeting with Emanuel, Ford handed out business cards and hobnobbed with the locals. “I’m Rob,” he said. “If you’re ever in Toronto and need any help, call me up.” When he asked a young couple where they’d been in Canada, the woman said, “The part across from Detroit on the river.” To which Ford famously replied: “Oh, Manitoba! You were in Manitoba. Winnipeg?”
- (Illustration: PJ McQuade)
- FORD THE AMBASSADOR
- FORD THE AMBASSADOR
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- <strong>Hallandale Beach, Florida</strong><br /><br /> <em>December 10 to 19, 2012</em><br /><br /> The tweet read: “Just passed through outgoing Pearson customs and security with Mayor Rob Ford—lined up with all us other schlubs.” It was the first indication that Ford was leaving town, but nobody knew where he was going. His office was mum, saying only that the mayor was “taking some personal time off” and that he’d be “returning shortly.” Brother Doug said Robbie would be back within a week. Ten days later, a tanned Ford reappeared at city hall after a solo holiday at the family’s south Florida condo, where he apparently watched college sports and hung out at flea markets.
- (Illustration: PJ McQuade)
- FORD THE AMBASSADOR
- FORD THE AMBASSADOR
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- <strong>Disney World, Florida</strong><br /><br /> <em>February 27, 2013</em><br /><br /> Spotted at Pearson airport by a TV crew interviewing travellers delayed by a snowstorm, Ford and his family left on an early March break trip to Disney World—or, as the mayor called it, “the happiest place on earth.”
- (Illustration: PJ McQuade)
- FORD THE AMBASSADOR
- FORD THE AMBASSADOR
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- By turning his diet plan into a public spectacle, the mayor invited more scrutiny than he bargained for. His year of yo-yoing frustration.
- FORD’S BATTLE OF THE BULGE
- FORD’S BATTLE OF THE BULGE
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- <strong>January 16, 2012</strong><br /><br /> The mayor announces his weight loss challenge and invites other international mayors to join him. He weighs in at 330 pounds. “When you tell three million people that you’re gonna lose weight, you sure better lose weight,” says brother Doug.
- (Photo: Getstock)
- FORD’S BATTLE OF THE BULGE
- FORD’S BATTLE OF THE BULGE
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- <strong>January 23</strong><br /><br /> Down 10 pounds in one week, Ford says he’s eating like a rabbit, running laps and fighting to resist the siren song of Jamoca Almond Fudge: “I drive by Baskin Robbins….It’s pretty hard.”<br />
- (Photo: Courtesy of Baskin Robbins)
- FORD’S BATTLE OF THE BULGE
- FORD’S BATTLE OF THE BULGE
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- <strong>January 24</strong><br /><br /> During a radio interview, Ford calls out a group of liberal councillors (Adam Vaughan, Gord Perks, Paula Fletcher) for being “two steps left of Joe Stalin.” Hunger pangs?<br />
- (Photo: Getty Images)
- FORD’S BATTLE OF THE BULGE
- FORD’S BATTLE OF THE BULGE
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- <strong>January 30</strong><br /><br /> Weighing in at 314 pounds, the mayor responds to questions about his future as an underwear model and his plans for future challenges—like avoiding bean dip on Super Bowl Sunday.<br />
- (Photo: Getstock)
- FORD’S BATTLE OF THE BULGE
- FORD’S BATTLE OF THE BULGE
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- <strong>February 6</strong><br /><br /> At the mayor’s third weigh-in, he’s down to 310 pounds, but reporters would rather talk politics than portliness. Ford refuses to answer questions about Karen Stintz’s transit rebellion.<br /><br /> <strong>February 13</strong><br /><br /> Ford hits a plateau (the most dreaded word in the diet playbook) in the same week he loses a vote on an LRT plan. Storms out of weigh-in.<br /><br /> <strong>February 21</strong><br /> <br /> The mayor drops to 308 pounds, his weight loss challenge low.<br />
- (Photo: Courtesy of Metrolinx)
- FORD’S BATTLE OF THE BULGE
- FORD’S BATTLE OF THE BULGE
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- <strong>March and April</strong><br /><br /> Down two, up two, down two, up two. The mayor does his version of yo-yo dieting. Begins to cancel regular weigh-ins.<br /><br /> <strong>April 16</strong><br /><br /> PETA representatives known as Lettuce Ladies crash the weekly weigh-in wearing nothing but greens. The mayor ignores them.<br /><br /> <strong>April 22</strong><br /><br /> Brother Doug (down 26 pounds) expresses outrage over a YouTube video of Rob exiting a KFC, dinner in bag: “The guy’s trying his hardest—well, maybe not his hardest, but he’s trying. Even if Rob hits 30 pounds, that’s huge….He’ll make it. If I’ve got to get a piece of duct tape and stick it across his mouth, and put a little hole in there for a straw…”<br />
- (Photo: Getstock)
- FORD’S BATTLE OF THE BULGE
- FORD’S BATTLE OF THE BULGE
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- <strong>May 8</strong><br /><br /> The Ford brothers bicker publicly at their weigh-in when Doug mistakenly thinks Rob has succeeded in losing weight. “Gained four pounds. That’s really good, isn’t it?” the mayor hisses before storming back to his office. No comment!<br /><br /> <strong>May 27</strong><br /><br /> “I don’t care about the weigh-in. I’m not even dieting anymore. It’s gone! It’s water under the bridge,” says Ford, prompting editorials on whether his inability to stick to his goal says anything about his governing abilities.<br /><br /> <strong>June 8</strong><br /><br /> A chastened Ford shows up at his final weigh-in, down 17 pounds from his original weight. “I could have done better,” he admits.<br />
- (Photo: Getstock)
- FORD’S BATTLE OF THE BULGE
- FORD’S BATTLE OF THE BULGE
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- <strong>August 30</strong><br /><br /> Artist Olenka Kleban creates a 227-kilogram butter statue of the mayor for the annual CNE festivities. Ford poses gamely beside his dairy likeness. “That’s funny,” he says. His wife Renata states the obvious: “Wow. That’s a lot of butter.”<br />
- (Photo: Getstock)
- FORD’S BATTLE OF THE BULGE
- FORD’S BATTLE OF THE BULGE
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- <strong>November 12</strong><br /><br /> The mayor speaks at Bullying Awareness Week, saying, “When you’re overweight like I’ve been my whole life, you get made fun and it’s not good growing up….Being called fat and all that stuff, it bothers you, but you have to deal with it.”<br /><br /> <strong>November 19</strong><br /><br /> Ford enters a Grey Cup bet with Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi. Both men agree to donate their body weight in food to a food bank located in the victor’s city. From a national hunger perspective, this is what’s called a win-win.
- (Photo: Colleen De Neve/Postmedia News)
- FORD’S BATTLE OF THE BULGE
- FORD’S BATTLE OF THE BULGE
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![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/a-brief-history-of-rob-ford/&title=A tragicomic scrapbook of Rob Ford’s crazy, blunder-filled mayoralty&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Rob-Ford-bried-history-intro-624x395.jpg&description=By Malcolm Johnston, John Michael McGrath, Philip Preville, Kelly Pullen and Courtney Shea
[caption id="attachment_211713" align="aligncenter" width="656"] (Photo: John Cullen)[/caption]
We expected a bumpy ride with Ford as mayor, but we weren’t prepared for a self-sabotaging Lindsay Lohan of politics. With a new scandal every week, it’s easy to lose track. Hence, we present a scrapbook of two very long years in Fordlandia.
[gallery columns="6" exclude="211713,211712"]){kind=link}
This is rather crap to look at online.
If Toronto Life was any further to the left, they would fall off the edge of the earth!
Ah, FF Ford has a hidden asset in Toronto Life, Philip Preville, a hack who thinks the sun rises and sets on our smoking mayor.
The truth often hurts besides if FF Ford wants to improve his crappy look he should quit his non-stop nibbling and get some exercise.
As always, Ford Nation confuses anything critical (honest) about Rob Fords messed up life with communism. Lol
The guy is a freakin’ mess!!! To point that out doesn’t make one left wing. It makes one sane!!
Rob Ford and his enabling brother are a total disgrace to the City Of Toronto.
They should be turfed from office come October 27th 2014.
To even leave brother Dough in office would mean a job half done in ridding Toronto of these thugs. As for the so called wonderful job that has been done to save taxpayers money , why have taxes increased 4.5% if all these so called in inefficiencies were found why then have taxes increased and the mythical billion dollar saving being tossed around has no paper work to support it. We do know that 65 million was thrown away cancelling the L.R.T. that was fully funded in favor of a costly subway extension that no one knows how it is going to be paid for. A two hundred grant loss to remove bike lanes from Jarvis St. that promoted bike travel and less cars in the downtown area reducing pollution.
No gravy trains found , and one obvious gravy train ( police paid duty ) that remains on the tracks along with a healthy pay raise while others lost their jobs to outsourcing.
The old chestnut of robbing peter to pay paul.
Why people still support these characters is beyond me.
Or is it the liberal and N.D.P. conspirators or the media commies responsible.
or maybe its is the man in the moon.