Rob Ford
Robert Bruce Ford (May 28, 1969 – March 22, 2016) was a Canadian businessman and politician who served as mayor of Toronto from December 2010 to November 2014.[1]
Elected with approximately 47 percent of the vote in the highest-turnout municipal election in decades, Ford rode a wave of discontent with city hall spending, promising to "stop the gravy train" of waste and pork-barrel politics while prioritizing lower taxes and better service for ordinary residents.[2][3][4]
As mayor, he advanced fiscal restraint measures, including cuts to city hall operating budgets and resistance to property tax hikes, and championed subway expansion to serve growing suburban needs over streetcar priorities favored by downtown interests.[4][5]
Ford's tenure galvanized a populist base dubbed "Ford Nation," emphasizing direct constituent access—such as his practice of returning calls personally—and opposition to union-driven cost overruns, but was derailed by escalating personal scandals, culminating in his November 5, 2013, admission of smoking crack cocaine during a "drunken stupor" the previous year.[5][6][7]
These incidents, including videos of public intoxication and associations with criminal elements seeking to exploit the crack footage, led Toronto City Council to strip him of most powers in late 2013, though he retained the office until term's end; Ford later battled and succumbed to pleomorphic liposarcoma, a rare and aggressive soft-tissue cancer.[6][8][9]