Robbed of Mayoral Duties

After several public mishaps, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is finally being stripped of most of his powers. The Toronto City Council met yesterday to discuss whether they should revoke more of Ford's mayoral privileges after he publicly admitted to buying and using cocaine. Specifically, the majority of the council (39-3) has voted to cut his office budget by 60 percent and remove him from executive committee chair. Ford will, however, "retain his title and ability to represent Toronto at official functions."

Photograph by Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP Photo

What led Ford to be in jeopardy of losing his mayoral duties in the first place? His unfortunate personal affairs recently became very public. When confronted several times with the accusation of smoking crack cocaine, he finally admitted to the mistake saying, "Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine. But do I? Am I an addict? No. Have I tried it? Probably in one of my drunken stupors, probably approximately about a year ago." Yes that "drunken stupor" was plural, as in more than one occasion.

Despite obvious reasons for Toronto City Council to question the competency of Ford in office, he didn't seem to take the news very well. During the council session, Ford and his brother (a council member himself) became outraged yelling "punk" and "scumbags," while the public chanted back at him, "Shame! Shame!" Ford was also heard calling the meeting a "coup d'etat." To add insult to injury, Ford knocked over councilor Pam McConnell in the midst of his frenzy claiming he was rushing to the defense of his brother. He offered no apology when prompted but simply said, "I picked her up." 

While removing some of his privileges is a start, it would appear that Mayor Rob Ford could use a little crisis communication, and some serious rebranding and damage control if he plans on running for re-election or for Prime Minister, as he has stated recently. 

Do you believe Ford can come back from these series of events and if so, what steps should he be taking? Let us know in the comments below!