Say one thing for Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. He can leave ’em laughing. At least on late-night television in the United States as he became maybe the most famous Canadian since Wayne Gretzky. Right up there is the current pantheon with Justin Bieber.
First Ford said he never smoked crack; then he said, well, maybe he had, but couldn’t remember because he was drunk at the time.
Ford demonstrated a marked ability to stick his giant foot in his giant mouth and lead with his chin, but–like Rocky Balboa–he hung in there, refusing to go down for the count.
Now, he says he’s on the comeback trail: No more drinking, full workouts at the gym, no plans to go anywhere but back to the voters for another mandate.(Recent polls show Ford still has 42 per cent voter support.) He says aside from a political, police and media conspiracy against him, his only problem is is weight.
But let’s hear it for notoriety. As a result of his reign as the International Punch Line of the Year Ford has won the title of Canada’s Newsmaker of the Year, named by editors and news directors across the country.
Ford won with a whopping 63 per cent of the votes in the annual Canadian Press survey.
Some of voters said said they wanted to pick astronaut Chris Hadfield, who received 16 per cent of the votes thanks to his inspirational stint as commander of the International Space Station.
Hadfield became perhaps the most famous astronaut in years with space-to-earth chats and some nifty guitar work. Alas, it simply wasn’t enough to top Ford.
Ford wins the title in a year that Canadian writer Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.