Rob Ford
publication date: Tuesday, August 1, 2023 (part of August 2023)
category: 
Controversy
clue: Toronto's most scandalous mayor ended his tumultuous career in public service due to an illness other than alcohol and drug addiction.
explanation: While he was the mayor of Toronto from 2010 to 2014, Ford was embroiled in a number of scandals, most prominently in 2013 when a video recording of him smoking crack cocaine and slurring his speech was leaked online. He refused to resign under public pressure, but he ultimately did withdraw from politics after a cancer diagnosis in 2014 and died in 2016. more…
intended difficulty: easy
solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, LaVonne Lemler, Samir Mehta, and Richard Slominsky
trivia: Scott originally referred to Ford as "Toronto's bad boy mayor" in the clue, but changed it after a quick check online turned up another former Toronto mayor, Mel Lastman, who had died in 2021 and had founded the Bad Boy Furniture chain.
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