Trainwreck: Mayor of Mayhem (2025)

1. Wow, full house.

2. Well, good afternoon, everyone.

3. I'd like to take this opportunity to address a number of issues

4. that have circulated in the media over the last few days.

5. I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine.

6. Holy shit.

7. Holy crap.

8. I cannot believe what the Mayor of Toronto just said on live television.

9. Enough is enough, and I want respect.

10. From the moment Rob Ford was elected,

11. we all recognized that this was not gonna be a boring four years.

12. The public loved him.

13. He was like a rock star.

14. His success made no sense by any normal political standards.

15. This is backdooring a quick motion. Staff doesn't support it. You're upset.

16. He turned City Hall into a circus.

17. He does not have a shred of credibility.

18. He was always delivering this image of the everyman,

19. but what he told everybody was a lie.

20. All of a sudden, we realized control of Canada's biggest city

21. was in the hands of a man who had no personal control over his life.

22. Get off my property!

23. If you are an alcoholic, which, you know...

24. Mayor Ford, do you have a drug problem?

25. I said, "Rob, they say they have a video of you smoking crack cocaine."

26. And he told me, "Don't worry, buddy. There's no video."

27. Trust me, I've seen it. He is smoking drugs in this video.

28. It's just lies after lies and lies.

29. Whoa, I can't believe I'm here right now. Like, this is nuts.

30. When you attack my integrity, I see red.

31. There were just so many twists and turns that you couldn't predict it.

32. Oh, and the last thing was, um,

33. Olivia Gondek says I wanted to eat her...

34. Holy fuck!

35. Buckle up. Like, this is gonna get wild.

36. The raccoons were in it,

37. in the overflowing dumpsters on Spadina overnight.

38. Their paws sticky at the feast,

39. courtesy of the garbage strike now 16 days old.

40. Back in 2009,

41. I was an assignment editor at a 24-hour news station in Toronto.

42. Toronto is the fourth-largest city in North America.

43. And the garbage strike was just gripping the city,

44. and it was disgusting.

45. The garbage is mounting up, and people are throwing—

46. They're just throwing it everywhere, and that's not right.

47. In order for me to go to work, I'd have to grab some rocks on the road,

48. and I would throw it to scatter the raccoons.

49. There was garbage piling up when it was hot, and stinky, and smelly.

50. Now the trash is baking in temperatures

51. that hit more than 30 degrees today.

52. It was particularly damaging for the mayor then,

53. a man named David Miller.

54. The mayor, quite frankly, isn't showing very much leadership in this dispute.

55. The garbage strike kind of politically wounded him,

56. and he decided to step back in 2010 and end his mayoralty.

57. There was no favorite waiting in the wings, ready to go.

58. Meaning the race was wide open for anyone to jump in

59. and sort of steal the narrative and steal those headlines.

60. Can you tell them he's here?

61. As a friend of Rob Ford, I phoned him right away.

62. I said, "Rob, you gotta run." He says, "You think so, buddy?"

63. And I said, "Yes, this is the time for you."

64. I mean, right from the very beginning of his political life,

65. he considered himself a public servant.

66. He worked for the people.

67. Word was they wanted to be represented, and they weren't represented.

68. There's no secret to it. They said, "Will you be a full-time councillor?"

69. I said, "Absolutely."

70. People were upset, and people were tired of City Hall.

71. And that's why I knew this area was ripe for someone like Rob,

72. and so much so that I actually quit my direct-marketing job,

73. and I went to work for him...

74. as a social media guide.

75. It's time to stop the gravy train

76. that provides luxuries and perks to politicians

77. and rich contracts to their friends.

78. I remember the first time I saw Rob, right after the 2003 election,

79. and I thought, "Where did this guy come from?"

80. He came on and he started smirking at me.

81. I said, "You should do the same as Councillor Cho." He said, "Shut up."

82. He was so aggressive that a lot of people didn't wanna sit near him.

83. And he was always changing seats until he ended up two seats away from me.

84. - Quiet, no one's talking to you. - Okay, Councillor.

85. Rob Ford was a controversial councillor,

86. known for saying things that were not politically correct.

87. If you're not doing needles and you're not gay,

88. you won't get AIDS, probably.

89. One day, I started talking to him,

90. and he said, "I'm gonna run for mayor, buddy."

91. And I was like, "Oh, Rob, don't do that. You're gonna lose."

92. "You have no chance of winning. Why put your family through that?"

93. And he'd say, "No, I'm gonna win, buddy. Really, I'm gonna win."

94. Bottom line, run against me

95. if you think you can do a better job for my constituents in Ward 2.

96. A friend called me and said, "What do you know about Rob Ford?"

97. And whether I thought he could be mayor.

98. And I said, "No."

99. "I don't think he can be mayor."

100. I spent 14 years as an Army officer in the Canadian Forces.

101. I came back to Canada exhausted

102. and completely disconnected from my business network,

103. and so I was looking for a job.

104. My introduction to the Ford family was Rob's older brother, Doug Ford.

105. He said, "Will you come on as the chief of staff?"

106. And, uh, I said, "Yes..."

107. because I, honestly, thought it was gonna be six weeks' work,

108. because I didn't think Rob Ford could go very far.

109. Doug and Rob were very close.

110. Doug, obviously, had an enormous influence

111. because he was the older brother and the campaign manager.

112. There was always an understanding that this was the Ford family enterprise.

113. Rob Ford may be new to politics, but his family isn't.

114. My father represented south of the 401.

115. Rob's late father came from the streets

116. and, uh, made himself into a multimillionaire.

117. I raised my family out here.

118. We started a business on a ping-pong table in a basement.

119. He ran a printing company.

120. Um...

121. Oh!

122. Here's a— Here's—

123. Here's a Rob Ford sticker from Deco, which was the company at the time.

124. That man, uh, was somebody that was very tough on his kids.

125. And so, uh, you know,

126. Rob was always trying to, you know, please his father in a lot of ways.

127. Why don't you shut your mouth?

128. His, uh, father had also been a politician and played football.

129. Rob loved football, but wasn't good at it.

130. He had no aptitude for business.

131. So the only thing left for him to please his dad was to go into politics.

132. Doug Ford had sketched out his visual of how we were gonna launch.

133. It'd be at the Toronto Congress Centre. It'd have 5,000 people out.

134. I laughed. I didn't laugh out loud, I laughed quietly.

135. 'Cause I've never seen a political event with more than a couple hundred people.

136. 5,000 seemed to be ridiculous.

137. Ford for mayor!

138. But through social media, we amassed a bunch of our, uh— our supporters,

139. and what we were gonna do is march to City Hall.

140. We're gonna leave in about five minutes. We're gonna walk up Yonge Street.

141. At the very last minute, if anybody knows Toronto,

142. we walked up Victoria Street, where there is a TV studio.

143. So we walked by the TV studio.

144. Here's Rob Ford trying for his cheap plug

145. in the background right now on breakfast television.

146. They stopped the breakfast morning show,

147. to mention, to talk about, "Look at this."

148. They're just going round the block and back and forth. There we go.

149. It was brilliant, free publicity on launch day,

150. and I was embarrassed that it wasn't my idea.

151. It was like, "Brilliant, Tom. Great idea. Lead us on."

152. I'm from Etobicoke, where Rob Ford is from.

153. We're around the same age. I'm a little older than him.

154. But, you know, on one-on-one,

155. I found him quite personable and interesting.

156. So I thought, "Well, of course, I should cover this."

157. And I'll admit, I drove out to Etobicoke not knowing what to expect.

158. And I got to this large hall, and I thought,

159. "Is he actually gonna be able to fill this?"

160. I was the only daily news reporter there.

161. But I walked in, and with so many people already packed in,

162. they kept having to run and get more chairs.

163. The room was full.

164. I told him there was about 2,000 people there,

165. would be my estimate.

166. Um, he gets up onto the stage and says, "Thank you. Thank you so much for coming."

167. You know, "Wow, there's 5,000 people here tonight."

168. Because if you say it, it's true.

169. I looked around that room,

170. and there were Bay Street bankers, and there were bus drivers.

171. I feel that Rob Ford should be the next mayor for Toronto.

172. He's gonna look after my money and your money.

173. The people that came out to support him

174. was a cross-section of the city of Toronto.

175. I think he's a man of integrity.

176. Rob is the guy for the people, by the people.

177. The way his campaign was put to me was,

178. Rob Ford gives his business card out to almost everybody he meets,

179. and he says, "If you have any problems, call me."

180. My colleague tells me a story about her dad had a tree in his backyard,

181. and the tree was dying.

182. My friend's father called Rob Ford.

183. He came to the house,

184. he looked at the tree, and he mediated sort of a solution.

185. So he got things done on the ground.

186. You have any problems with your unit?

187. Your shower, your stove, fridge?

188. He helped everybody.

189. It didn't matter if you were in his ward.

190. It didn't matter anywhere in the city,

191. and he was adored for that.

192. Rob Ford is the best, he's honest.

193. We need somebody who can stand for what he believes in.

194. Come on, Toronto. Rob Ford for mayor.

195. The love, the power, and the support in that room for him was mind-blowing.

196. And for the first time, I thought, "I think this guy could win."

197. The media was quite surprised at how popular Rob was becoming.

198. I'm voting for the guy.

199. - Ready? - I'm ready.

200. So they started to dig into his past.

201. Ford faced scrutiny over an impaired-driving conviction

202. in Florida in 1999.

203. Rob Ford revealed the charge after a recent newspaper report

204. accused him of lying about a possession-of-marijuana charge.

205. I made a mistake, I'm only human,

206. and I don't know what more to say, I apologize.

207. That apology from 2006

208. after he lied about swearing and yelling at a couple

209. during a hockey game, while drunk.

210. But despite all of those stories, his popularity did just keep growing.

211. People are sick of wasteful spending, that's for sure.

212. So he's resonating with people in that way,

213. but he's a bit of a loose cannon.

214. I'd be driving the campaign bus, and I'd get two responses.

215. People would be waving and cheering, and others would be giving me the finger.

216. There was no middle ground.

217. A day of choice, a day of change.

218. The polls have just closed across the GTA, where voters elect their new mayors...

219. On election day, the Ford family gathers at the family house,

220. and some select media were invited.

221. The least confident person on our team was Rob Ford.

222. He was having a lot of doubt.

223. He was having a lot of trepidation that this didn't work, he'd screwed it up.

224. Pretty clear from the results we have so far that he has won this race.

225. Rob Ford is the mayor-elect in Toronto.

226. - Elected! - Elected!

227. Oh my God!

228. It was a big relief that he had won,

229. and we all went to the Congress Centre, which is where we started the whole thing,

230. and thousands of people were there.

231. We were having to push and shove. You literally could almost not breathe.

232. It was like riot training in the Army, pushing through this mass of people.

233. But it did feel good, and it felt like a vindication,

234. because a lot of people... didn't think he could do it.

235. I didn't think he could do it.

236. Toronto now is open for business, ladies and gentlemen.

237. One, two, three, smile.

238. Second last shot.

239. The first day on the job was quite incredible.

240. We were outsiders all that time. And now, we're insiders.

241. I came to Toronto City Council, uh,

242. the same time as Rob Ford was elected mayor.

243. I had heard about him over the years

244. for his very right-wing populist positions on issues.

245. The first year, he was able to get his agenda passed.

246. He just said, "If you agree with me, I'll work with you,

247. and if you don't, I will destroy you."

248. He got City Council to repeal a vehicle-registration tax.

249. He got our local transit, uh, workers

250. declared an essential service so that they couldn't strike.

251. He was ticking off, you know, piece by piece,

252. his plan to make the city work and end the waste.

253. And so it was a good first year.

254. But there's little signs that Rob is...

255. not performing at 100%.

256. He would disappear from city meetings to go coach football.

257. He coached a high school football team in Etobicoke.

258. Drive. Drive, drive.

259. His passion is coaching high school football,

260. and it got him into trouble when, as a councillor,

261. he used office stationery to ask Toronto lobbyists

262. to give money to his football foundation.

263. That's a conflict of interest, and so a court case began.

264. The unprecedented court case

265. had the city's chief magistrate running away from the media,

266. as he tried to avoid questions.

267. He can't talk. The trial's still on.

268. The judge ruled that it was a conflict of interest

269. and that the only punishment the law allowed

270. was removal from office.

271. And Rob is upset.

272. This comes down to left-wing politics.

273. They want me out of here and will do anything in their power.

274. I'm gonna fight tooth and nail, um, to hold on to my job.

275. And Rob Ford did appeal.

276. The mayor was beaming as he walked into his office

277. minutes after a panel of three judges unanimously ruled in favor of his appeal.

278. In the end...

279. Rob won.

280. But the stress of these court trials

281. was clearly eating away at him.

282. It's the deepest part of winter 2013,

283. and I am at the Garrison Ball in Toronto, which is an annual military gala.

284. These are some people that I know from my service in the military.

285. There's a fraternal bond there.

286. So I'm hoping to have an enjoyable evening.

287. I don't think Rob is gonna be there,

288. because Rob had spent a weekend in Chicago with his brother and some friends

289. to watch a hockey game.

290. So it was kind of a boys' weekend away.

291. I get a text from the body man assigned for him that night

292. saying, "He's coming,"

293. and I think... like, just crushing.

294. Very shortly thereafter,

295. I get another message saying, "They're here, I need you now."

296. And so I go to the front door, and Rob is there,

297. and he is not in a good way.

298. He's dressed in his suit, but his collars are up.

299. And his— one of his shirt tails is untucked,

300. and he looks drenched from sweat.

301. And I try to stop him from going in the room.

302. And he basically tells me to step out of the way

303. or he'll take me down.

304. Somebody called me and said, "Tom, there's an issue with the mayor."

305. So I pulled into the parking lot,

306. and there's Rob with Mark Towhey in a headlock.

307. And I thought it was quite comical,

308. until I realized, you know, well, "I don't think Mark was really too happy

309. about being in a headlock from Rob."

310. He eventually leaves, and I think,

311. "Wow, we'll read about this in the morning."

312. I was working at the Toronto Star,

313. and I got a tip that Rob Ford was so drunk.

314. And we had a city councillor on the record saying he'd been asked to leave.

315. He told his chief of staff,

316. "I think it'd be better for everybody involved, uh,

317. if the mayor left."

318. My experience covering Rob Ford really changed me as a journalist.

319. This is where it started to turn dark.

320. A front-page story in the Toronto Star alleges

321. Rob Ford has a drinking problem.

322. The Fords freaked out,

323. and they went, you know, totally ballistic on me and the Toronto Star.

324. The Toronto Star going after me again and again and again.

325. The Toronto Star is generally considered a progressive paper,

326. and he was an arch-conservative in a lot of ways.

327. They're relentless, that's fine.

328. I'll go head-to-head with the Toronto Star anytime.

329. He officially cut us off.

330. It's just lies after lies and lies, and I've called you pathological liars.

331. Rob Ford demonizing the media,

332. years before Donald Trump did the same thing...

333. was extremely effective.

334. He wanted to plant the seeds of mistrust in the public's mind,

335. so that when the media did report something bad about him,

336. he could say, "See? They're out to get me."

337. And he would ramp it up

338. every time he knew that there might be another scandal.

339. One day, I was working on a story.

340. I remember getting a call from this guy

341. who said he had a video of Ford smoking crack.

342. It was April Fools' Day, which is never the day you wanna get a call like that.

343. Um, but yeah, I mean, I just—

344. I handled it as professionally as I could

345. and said, "Okay, well..." You know. "Tell me more."

346. "Can I see it?"

347. "Can we meet?"

348. So we met at a parking lot.

349. This guy pulled up and said, you know,

350. "Leave your bags and your phones, etcetera, in your car, get in this car,"

351. and then drove us to a different location.

352. Another individual got in the car.

353. They seemed, um, very nervous.

354. I remember that they wouldn't let us hold the phone.

355. They were holding the phone, kind of showing it to us.

356. But when the screen turned on, it was just so obvious it was Rob Ford...

357. smoking out of a— a glass pipe.

358. Holy shit.

359. And then they wanted to sell it to us for $100,000.

360. But Canadian media does not pay for news.

361. You know, something like the National Enquirer might do or TMZ,

362. but— but that doesn't happen here.

363. Now what?

364. We all gathered in the Toronto Star newsroom

365. to figure out what we needed

366. before we could publish the story without having the tape ourselves.

367. I just remember sitting at my desk and putting my head down on my desk,

368. because I was like, "Maybe this story is never gonna come out."

369. And then about two weeks after we saw the video...

370. I was at a friend's book launch.

371. And, uh, all of a sudden,

372. someone came over to me, uh, and said, "Robyn, did you see this?"

373. And the screen was Gawker.

374. The US website called Gawker published a story

375. where they said, uh, the editor, John Cook, had seen the same video.

376. Now, it was out there. We could publish the story.

377. It was on the front page the next day.

378. It said, "Star reporters have seen a video

379. in which Rob Ford appears to be smoking crack cocaine."

380. The paper acknowledges it cannot verify the video

381. and says it did not pay for it and doesn't have a copy.

382. Doolittle, a City Hall reporter, believes it is the mayor.

383. Looks like Mayor Rob Ford, sounds like Mayor Rob Ford.

384. Holy shit.

385. Our mayor just got caught in a crack cocaine scandal on video.

386. It was so shocking.

387. It was unprecedented for a mayor to be involved in anything like that.

388. You know, I knew things were kind of crazy,

389. but I certainly didn't know they were that crazy.

390. When I saw the story, I thought,

391. "That's a problem."

392. And I called him and I said,

393. "Rob, they say they have a video of you smoking crack cocaine."

394. And he told me,

395. "Don't worry, buddy. There's no video."

396. And that was not the answer I wanted to hear.

397. Because, to me, that suggested that there could've been a video.

398. I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine.

399. As for a video, I cannot comment on a video

400. that I have never seen or does not exist.

401. It is most unfortunate that I have been judged by the media

402. without any evidence.

403. The mayor says it didn't happen, it didn't.

404. Our messaging was always the same as Rob's.

405. We all know pictures can be photoshopped.

406. It could've been Ford, but I doubt it.

407. I just don't think it's his style.

408. There was a poll done in the city,

409. and something like 50% of people in Toronto

410. thought that we had fabricated the crack story.

411. It's a very clear agenda,

412. trying to, uh, make as much problem for Rob Ford as possible.

413. I just really did not understand how much people mistrust media

414. and how the Fords really successfully

415. had framed the media as a political opponent.

416. Let's be clear. I'm gonna answer. You ask the questions.

417. If I get interrupted, questions are over, simple.

418. I started getting death threats.

419. Yeah, it was— it was just extremely, uh, tense.

420. The proof has yet to surface,

421. clouding the world's view of Toronto, according to some on city council.

422. This is the, um, chief magistrate of, uh, our great city,

423. and, uh, it's a problem.

424. I said that this was going to finish him,

425. unless he went to rehab.

426. And so, at that point, I started to change every conversation

427. that I had with him.

428. Every time he wanted to talk about policy or an initiative

429. or something that he wanted done in the city,

430. all I'd say is, "You need to go to rehab."

431. And I knew then...

432. that by giving him only that choice,

433. he would either eventually give in and go,

434. or he would fire me.

435. And he chose option B, to fire me.

436. Have you urged the mayor to seek help?

437. My advice to the mayor is confidential.

438. And so I walked out the front door with security, basically, marching me out.

439. Mark Towhey being fired was one of those pivotal moments.

440. It was not a good time for me. It was frustrating, and it was angering.

441. It just felt like betrayal.

442. And then he just left,

443. and it sort of left the reporters in this moment of shock

444. that something big was coming.

445. I just didn't know what at that point.

446. So it's Halloween,

447. and I remember getting a text from a police source

448. who said, "Are— Are you near a TV?"

449. "You'll wanna watch this press conference in half an hour."

450. I've been advised

451. that we are now in possession

452. of a recovered digital video file.

453. I will not be releasing it today.

454. Toronto Police Chief, Bill Blair, came out and said, "We've got the crack video."

455. He wouldn't share it, but Toronto Police were in possession of that video.

456. That file contains video images,

457. which appear to be, uh, those images

458. which were previously reported in— in the press.

459. The crack video was captured in a massive gun smuggling raid

460. after a horrible shooting in Toronto.

461. And, ultimately, it was the individuals targeted in this investigation...

462. that the mayor was seeming to be buying

463. and smoking serious drugs with.

464. That's what started this second wave of chaos at Toronto City Hall.

465. Hey, get that flash down.

466. Lower that flash.

467. Well, good afternoon. Um...

468. I think everybody's seen the... uh, the allegations.

469. So I... Well, I think it's quite...

470. I... I think it's...

471. No, I'm not. Uh, no. No. You know what? No. No.

472. Uh... I have no reason to resign.

473. I'm gonna go back and gonna return my phone calls.

474. I'm gonna be out doing what the people elected me to do.

475. And that's save taxpayers' money

476. and run a great government

477. that we've been running for the last three years.

478. So that's all I can say.

479. Again, that's all I can say.

480. Is this acceptable behavior for a mayor?

481. Again, I can't...

482. I've said everything I said.

483. Have you lied to the people of Toronto?

484. You're saying the Chief of Police is lying, Mayor Ford?

485. - Why won't you resign? - Mayor Ford!

486. I was working in corporate security at City Hall.

487. On the day that the police chief, Bill Blair,

488. came out and said that the police were in the possession of the crack video,

489. I was escorting Mayor Ford to his— his car.

490. And, uh, he said, "Listen, Jerry, I need some type of close protection

491. because the media, they are relentless."

492. "You're basically gonna be my right-hand man." You know.

493. I was just like, "Holy crap."

494. It's not every day the mayor of the biggest city in Canada

495. asks you to come work for him.

496. You know? And so I was like, "Okay."

497. - Come on, let's go, then. Come on. - Let's go.

498. It was like I'd been dropped into a storm.

499. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

500. - You hit him. - I didn't.

501. You did. I just saw you.

502. He didn't. He pushed him out of the way.

503. It was relentless. The media were hounding Rob.

504. Guys, you're under the cameras. Get off my driveway, please.

505. It was a feeding frenzy. It was sharks.

506. Please, can you get off my driveway? Can you get off my property, please?

507. - Go! Get off my property! - Leaving!

508. - Take it off my property! - I'm leaving!

509. Oh, here we go.

510. It just became an absolute circus, and it got even worse.

511. Then all of a sudden, international media's there.

512. I'm trying to do my work at the front desk,

513. and, uh, I had, uh, relatives from Scotland texting me saying,

514. "Tom, we see you in Scotland, in Glasgow, and you're at the mayor's office."

515. "What's going on over there?"

516. Now, the rumors have been swirling around him since May,

517. but now Canadian police say they've seen a video

518. appearing to show the Mayor of Toronto smoking a crack pipe.

519. He became the punchline to jokes on late-night, uh, talk shows.

520. Is this dude on crack?

521. He needs professional help, he needs amateur help.

522. He can go see a witch doctor.

523. But to be fair, there's not a lot to do in Toronto. Come on, guys.

524. Excuse me. Excuse me.

525. Meanwhile, Rob continued to deny it

526. and continued to just want...

527. to do business as usual.

528. Whatever this video shows, folks,

529. Toronto residents deserve to see it,

530. and, Chief, I'm asking you to release this video now.

531. Rob, you've gotta keep— keep moving forward.

532. As I say, keep your nose clean and— and, uh, move forward.

533. He, um, didn't believe that there was any kind of footage.

534. I didn't believe there was any kind of footage.

535. Mayor!

536. Do you think Chief Blair should step aside?

537. You guys have asked me a question back in May.

538. You can repeat that question.

539. The one we asked in May?

540. - Do you smoke crack cocaine? - Exactly.

541. Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine.

542. - When, sir? - But no— Do I?

543. Am I an addict? No.

544. Have I tried it?

545. Um, probably in one of my drunken stupors probably approximately about a year ago.

546. Yes, I've made— I've made mistakes. All I can do now is apologize and move on.

547. - I don't know what else– Can I just— - Yeah, go ahead.

548. There's been times when I've been in a drunken stupor.

549. That's why I wanna see the tape.

550. I want everyone in the city to see this tape.

551. I'd like to see this tape.

552. I don't even recall there being a tape or a video, and I know that,

553. so I wanna see the state that I was in, but, um...

554. That's exactly it. I wanna get—

555. Are you on drugs right now?

556. Okay...

557. Nobody had seen the video.

558. But when Rob confessed, it was a huge blow to me and the team.

559. For six months, I talked to literally 100, 150 people a day.

560. And a lot of them were wondering about this crack thing.

561. I always had swore that that was false, it was not true.

562. And, uh, when he finally admitted it, uh, I was actually crushed.

563. I was the longest-serving staffer, uh, the entire time.

564. I was working 24 hours a day, seven days a week...

565. uh, so much so that my wife left me.

566. You know, I had misled Toronto residents for all that time.

567. And then proven wrong, uh, by the man himself.

568. So it took a real toll on me,

569. and, um, I couldn't do it anymore.

570. With today's announcement...

571. I know I embarrassed everyone in this city,

572. and I will be forever sorry.

573. Right after Rob admitted to smoking crack,

574. everything seemed to completely implode.

575. And it was only a matter of time until more videos came out.

576. I'll rip his fucking throat out.

577. When he stands up, I'll make sure that motherfucker's dead.

578. There's one where he's in a house. He seems to be pantomiming a fight.

579. I'm a sick motherfucker, dude, but no one's gonna fuck around me.

580. It's extremely embarrassing, and I— I don't know what to say.

581. Um, again and again and again, I apologize.

582. At that time, the situation was so unbelievable,

583. day after day after day.

584. Have you purchased illegal drugs in the last two years?

585. Yes, I have.

586. Scandal flew off Rob Ford like— like sweat off a runner.

587. It was classic Mayor Ford.

588. One moment, contrite.

589. I really, uh, effed up.

590. The next, defiant.

591. I'm moving on. You guys can do what you want.

592. Oh man.

593. There were some days where we're just— I'm just like,

594. "Whoa, I can't believe I'm here right now. Like, this is nuts."

595. Mayor, any comments on the latest allegations?

596. As all of this was happening, then he just makes this offhand comment

597. after he was accused of demeaning a staffer named Olivia Gondek.

598. Um, he wanted—

599. Oh, okay, so we're gonna use some language, everybody.

600. Just— I can't believe I'm at the office, and I'm gonna say this.

601. Um, but, you know, he said...

602. Oh, and the last thing was, um, Olivia Gondek.

603. It says that I wanted to eat her pussy. Olivia Gondek.

604. I've never said that. I'm happily married.

605. I've got more than enough to eat at home. Thank you very much.

606. Holy fuck!

607. I know we're up live right now, but I don't know if we can...

608. I... Mayor Ford, speaking, as Mayor Ford does, very plainly,

609. as he said in council yesterday, he effed up,

610. and now using language that I don't think we can broadcast on TV,

611. but we just broadcast that on TV.

612. Another unbelievable day...

613. When things are constantly so shocking, you know how you sort of get numb to it?

614. This broke any spell of numbness.

615. No money, man.

616. Ja! Bumbaclot, man!

617. And then, there was this video of him speaking in a Jamaican patois,

618. talking about Bill Blair, the police chief of Toronto,

619. who had started investigating.

620. Chief Blair. Ja, man.

621. He chase me around for five months, man.

622. I've almost forgotten that one.

623. I mean, it— it just— Like, it all blurs.

624. Bumbaclot, man!

625. Rassclart, Bumbaclot!

626. Leave me alone, man.

627. I got to take some ownership here. Okay, so Rob really loves spicy food.

628. We get talking about Jamaican food,

629. and he'd short me, he'd be like, "Aw, buddy, you don't know, man."

630. And that's where we would banter back and forth in patois.

631. So he was just ranting and raving.

632. Like, "You're wasting taxpayer dollars

633. to— to try to find something on me,

634. and you're— this is ridiculous."

635. It was a bona fide investigation by the Toronto police.

636. He got caught smoking crack cocaine with gunrunners,

637. opening himself up to extortion, as the Mayor of Toronto

638. who had an influence over the police budget.

639. So it was very clear to me and others that he could not remain mayor.

640. I came up with the idea

641. of removing his powers.

642. We have to, um, try to disarm the mayor as much as possible.

643. I offered to not make the motion

644. if he would just agree...

645. to voluntarily go into rehab,

646. and, uh, he said no.

647. I voted for Rob Ford back in 2010, and, damn, was I ever wrong.

648. We walked into the council chamber.

649. Shame, shame, shame!

650. And, um, there's a bunch of people, um,

651. giving the mayor the finger, flipping him off.

652. You know, people started yelling, "Shame, shame, shame,"

653. and all— all hell broke loose.

654. You're the scumbag.

655. - How do you know— - You're the scumbag, you little punk.

656. This was a session full of jaw-dropping moments.

657. When it couldn't get worse, it did.

658. The mayor ran into Councillor Pam McConnell,

659. almost knocking her to the ground.

660. I'm still shaking, I'm sorry.

661. After the debate, voting began. It's still happening right now.

662. We could not remove Rob Ford as mayor. Only the electorate can do that.

663. But what we were able to do was remove the powers of mayor,

664. provide them to the deputy mayor...

665. and then work as a council

666. in a collaborative, collegial way to run the city.

667. This, folks, reminds me of when Saddam attacked Kuwait.

668. You guys have just attacked Kuwait.

669. Most people in Rob Ford's position,

670. after going through the scandal and the mess he put all of us through,

671. would've stepped aside in shame.

672. What Rob Ford did is he leaned in on the scandal.

673. He tells Torontonians to re-elect him.

674. Rob Ford is holding his campaign launch

675. here at the Congress Centre in Etobicoke.

676. Volunteers are getting everything ready for the fundraiser.

677. How many do you think you'll sell tonight?

678. Oh, a lot. I think it's gonna be phenomenal.

679. Of course, he was gonna run.

680. Why retreat when you can just keep pushing ahead?

681. I've been the best mayor that this city's ever had.

682. My record speaks for itself.

683. It was pretty incredible to see Rob Ford get up, say,

684. "I've done a great job as mayor."

685. Four more years!

686. What was equally amazing is how many people cheered him on.

687. - You got my vote, Rob. - I really appreciate the support, sir.

688. It's very kind of you.

689. People love a comeback story.

690. This week he's gonna be resurrected. Jesus and Rob Ford.

691. There was a feeling that if he can keep his demons at bay,

692. that, you know, he has at least a very good shot of winning this thing.

693. In early 2014, I'd just left the Toronto Star

694. and joined The Globe and Mail.

695. And then something like three days into the job,

696. I get a call from someone who said

697. he had another video of Rob Ford smoking crack.

698. I just remember kind of standing there going, "Oh damn."

699. Canadian media will pay for freelance photos.

700. So I remember just saying,

701. "We should buy five screenshots from this video for $2,000 a piece."

702. And The Globe just got it done. They were like, "Yes, let's do this."

703. These are the damning pictures that surfaced tonight.

704. Snapshots of a new video allegedly showing Rob Ford

705. with what could be a crack pipe in his hand.

706. It just sort of added that layer

707. of, you know, everything was already so unbelievable.

708. And then this.

709. It really built this, uh, frustration and anger

710. among voters outside of Ford Nation

711. that enough is enough.

712. And he's just like, "Yeah, I've gotta get treatment and— and— and get help."

713. And that's where he went away to rehab.

714. Now, I think I speak for everyone when I say

715. I'm just happy Mayor Ford is finally getting the help he so desperately needs.

716. What? What's that? Really?

717. I'm told Rob Ford's escaped from rehab.

718. He's on the loose in the Los Angeles area.

719. Let's take a look.

720. People really didn't get it. Like, it was hard for him. Um...

721. He'd call me up in the middle of the night at rehab.

722. He's like, "Buddy, this place is like jail, bro."

723. I'm like, "Man, they got a gym up there?" He's like, "Yeah." I'm like, "Work out."

724. So when he came back, uh, the guy was about 30 pounds lighter.

725. There was one guy I couldn't beat. It was that guy in the mirror.

726. One morning I got up. I said, "That's it." They said, "You can't. There's a mayor."

727. I said, "I'm going. I have to take care of myself."

728. He was, you know, firing on all cylinders.

729. He's training, working out. I'm like, "Yeah, we're back."

730. He also invited wrestlers, celebrities, to show up at his office.

731. And he created a carnival atmosphere.

732. Do you remember one of those...

733. accidental tirades of his?

734. He did say he would kick my butt.

735. - You're kidding. - Oh, okay.

736. It was the day after Mike Tyson had come to City Hall.

737. And we go for breakfast in the morning, and Rob had just, like, no appetite.

738. And he's just like, "I don't know, I'm just not feeling well."

739. "There's this pain in my side. It's, like, burning."

740. And Doug was like, "Jerry, just take him to the hospital."

741. Uh, so I drop him off.

742. He goes to see the— a doctor, and I— I just wait in the parking lot.

743. A few hours pass, and, uh, Rob calls me up.

744. He's like, "Buddy, I don't know, it's not looking good."

745. "Um, you got to call Doug and tell him to get here ASAP."

746. Doug shows up, and Doug and I go into the hospital.

747. And we see Rob laying there.

748. And he tells us that, uh, they had to do a scan,

749. and they found a tumor.

750. And I just broke down crying.

751. Sorry.

752. The diagnosis is a malignant liposarcoma.

753. We think it's a fairly aggressive tumor,

754. a very rare tumor and a very difficult tumor.

755. I feel so sad for Rob, for his illness. And I— I just pray he's gonna be okay.

756. In spite of his illness,

757. Rob Ford has decided to remain in the race for a seat on city council

758. while his brother, Doug Ford, runs for the top job in his place.

759. My brother Rob told me that he needed me to take the torch

760. while he focuses on getting better.

761. Rob dropped out of the mayor's race,

762. and his brother jumped into the mayor's race.

763. Doug Ford came close to winning,

764. having only jumped into the race with 30 days left to go,

765. so kudos to him.

766. Rob was re-elected as the councillor once again for Ward 2.

767. - Rob! Rob! - We love you, Rob! Thank you, Jesus!

768. Rob would never, ever admit defeat,

769. even with cancer.

770. He thought he was going to beat it, like he'd— he'd beaten everything.

771. Um, he was always, you know, the comeback kid.

772. It's World Cancer Day.

773. It seems very relevant to talk to you

774. and find out how you're doing right now in this whole process.

775. Well, thanks for asking, Cynthia.

776. It's very kind when people come up and ask, uh, how I'm doing.

777. Um...

778. I'm doing the best I can in this situation. Um...

779. I got, uh, in about six months ago.

780. I can just keep my head up high every day,

781. take one day at a time,

782. and just keep fighting and, um, keep praying.

783. Um...

784. It's a struggle.

785. I'm outside Mount Sinai Hospital.

786. This is where Rob Ford spent his last few days,

787. with his family by his side,

788. as he battled a rare and aggressive form of cancer.

789. It was like a— you know, a Shakespearean tragedy

790. where he didn't get that final act

791. where he was able to, you know, overcome all those demons

792. and come back, you know, in a positive light.

793. His ending was cut short, and that, in itself, was a tragedy.

794. And I really miss him. He was a really good friend.

795. Ford Nation!

796. There's not a day that goes by

797. that I don't think about some conversation I had with him

798. that— it taught me something.

799. Oh man, these emotions.

800. Ooh!

801. I'm proud and I'm honored

802. that I'm able to share this side of the story

803. and be able to give people an inside look

804. as to why I stood by him through thick and thin.

805. And I don't care what anybody says.

806. They can go fly a kite.

807. At his funeral, you know, Doug told this story how...

808. Rob loved his, uh, sandwiches.

809. I was working late one night, and Rob came in with, uh, a sub.

810. And he said, "I went in to MR. SUB, and Gus was there."

811. "And Gus worked 16 hours a day trying to make a living."

812. "And an order came in on the phone... for MR. SUB,

813. and the total order was about $32."

814. "And Gus didn't have anyone to deliver it."

815. I think you know where this story is going here.

816. Well, Rob's like,

817. "Well, just give it to me. I'll go deliver it for you."

818. See, imagine you ordered some subs,

819. and then... a knock,

820. there's the Mayor of Toronto delivering your subs.

821. He said, "You wouldn't believe it."

822. "I met, you know, four new voters."

823. "So I have them as supporters now."

824. And he said, "The best thing of it all,

825. they gave me $35, and I got a $3 tip."

826. You know...

827. But, again, you know, that— that's classic Rob.

828. What do you think Rob Ford's legacy is?

829. Hmm.

830. What is Rob Ford's legacy?

831. I've been thinking about that.

832. 'Cause I knew you were gonna ask me that question.

833. And I think Rob Ford's legacy, it all comes down to who you ask.

834. So, Mark, who was Rob Ford?

835. He was dishonest.

836. - Selfless. - Smart.

837. Outspoken.

838. Unpredictable.

839. Exploitative.

840. You know, all of us have a Rob, you know, somewhere in our life.

841. And I think in the long run,

842. history will think of him as a man who had an illness...

843. One more year!

844. who, despite that,

845. accomplished some things that had never been accomplished before.

846. And... the bad stuff, yep, it speaks for itself.