POLITICIANS

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.^[