Rob Ford, the former Toronto mayor who made international news for his scandal-filled term, which included cellphone video showing him smoking crack, is dead at age 46.
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 died.
"The family will not be making any statements to the media or taking any questions," the statement read.
Ford, who had been serving as Toronto city councillor, underwent surgery for the cancer in 2015, but months later, doctors found two new tumors. Ford underwent several rounds of chemotherapy that proved 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, but after months of controversy and worldwide headlines, he admitted to abusing drugs and alcohol. He was stripped of most of his powers by the Toronto City Council but became a cult legend 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."
Read more at The Star.