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Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is swarmed by media at City Hall after City Council striped him of emergency management powers on November 15, 2013 in Toronto, Canada.
Aaron Vincent Elkaim/Getty Images
Rob Ford, the former Toronto mayor who made national news for his scandal-filled term, which included cellphone video showing him smoking crack, is dead at 46.
Ford, married father of two young children suffered from a rare and aggressive cancer, pleomorphic liposarcoma, that was first diagnosed during his 2014 re-election bid for mayor, The Star reports.
Ford’s family released a brief statement viewed by the newspaper announcing that the “dedicated man of the people” who “spent his life serving the citizens of Toronto” had passed.
“The family will not be making any statements to the media or taking any questions,” the statement said.
Ford, who was currently serving as Toronto city councilor, underwent surgery for the cancer in 2015, months later doctors found two new tumors. Ford underwent several rounds of chemotherapy that proved to be unsuccessful.
In 2013, the Star “revealed that Ford had attended a military ball intoxicated and then that a cellphone video apparently showed him smoking crack.”
Ford angrily denied the claims and video and, after months of controversy and worldwide headlines he finally admitted, abusing drugs and alcohol. He was stripped of most of his powers by the council but became a cult legend nationwide for his brash antics.
“People know that I saved a lot of money, and people are going to know that I had a few personal struggles,” Ford told reporters about his legacy in 2014.
“So you can remember it for what you want, but they’re definitely going to remember it.”
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