Timeline of Rob Ford video scandal

2013

February to March

• February 17 Mayor Ford is surreptitiously recorded by Mohamed Siad smoking crack cocaine from a glass pipe. Siad also records a video of himself describing the recording of the first, and how to secretly record a video or "even catch a Mayor smoking crack".
• March 27 A police wiretap of a conversation between Mohamed Siad and Siyadin Abdi reveals their efforts to sell the crack video to Ford, rejecting an alleged offer of $5,000 and a new car by Ford. Siad is seeking $150,000.
• March 28 Anthony Smith and Muhammad Khattak, alleged members of the Dixon City Bloods gang, and who appear in the Gawker-released photograph with Mayor Ford, are shot outside the Loki Lounge in Toronto. Smith dies of his injuries. Wiretap surveillance by the police lead police to believe the motive for the shooting was related to a robbery of other gang members by Smith and others in November 2012.

  May

• May 3 Toronto Star reporters Robyn Doolittle and Kevin Donovan meet with Mohamed "Soya" Siad, 27, an alleged member of the Dixon Bloods, in the back seat of a car in the parking lot of 320 Dixon Road. Siad allows the reporters to view the Ford video on a cellphone three times and says he might sell it for a "six-figure price" so that he can move to Alberta, Canada.
• May 16 Gawker reports a cellphone video that appears to show Toronto mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine and commenting on political issues. The video was believed to have been recorded late in 2012. Toronto Star reporters Kevin Donovan and Robyn Doolittle say they watched the video on May 3. The Star also publishes a picture of Ford with three men, two of whom were shot in March 2013. One of them, Anthony Smith, died.
• May 17 As Ford leaves his house in the morning to drive to City Hall, he speaks to a press scrum assembled: "Absolutely not true. It's ridiculous. It's another Toronto Star whatever." Gawker sets up a fund called "Crackstarter" to raise $200,000 to purchase the video.
• May 19 Ford and his brother Doug cancel their weekly Newstalk 1010 talk show.
• May 20 Jay Leno comments on the scandal on The Tonight Show.
• May 21 Jon Stewart and Jimmy Kimmel comment on the scandal on their shows. A man is shot, requiring hospitalization, at a 17th floor apartment in the Dixon Road apartment complex.
• May 22 Ford is fired as football coach for Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School. He is also not allowed to coach at any other Catholic high school of the Toronto Catholic District School Board. Doug Ford addresses a press conference at City Hall, to defend his brother, his record at City Hall. He also criticized the Toronto Star: "Never, never has a Canadian politician or his family, has been targeted by the media this way. They zealously, and I say zealously, stalk my mother, my children. The media hides in the bushes at our cottage. They did this weekend, that my kids couldn’t even enjoy the weekend ’cause they were in the bushes taking videos of them, and harasses our family at home" and for reporting the alleged drug dealers as of Somali descent: "I also want to say that the story wrongfully generalizes and tarnishes the reputation of Toronto’s Somalian community."
• May 23 Ford fires his chief of staff, Mark Towhey. Towhey is escorted out of City Hall by security. Ford elevates deputy chief of staff Earl Provost. Several reports state that Towhey was fired for telling Ford to get help at a rehab centre. Gawker reports that they have raised more than $165,000 toward paying for the cellphone video, but were no longer in contact with the seller.
• May 24 After City Council's executive committee publicly asks Ford to respond to the allegations, Ford ends several days of silence and reads a prepared statement to the press at City Hall: "I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine." "As for a video, I cannot comment on a video that I have never seen or does not exist. It is most unfortunate, very unfortunate, that my colleagues and the great people of this city have been exposed to the fact that I have been judged by the media without evidence." According to his former press secretary Adrienne Batra, the statement was written by Ford's family, rejecting a prepared statement written by his staff.
• *That same day, Hanad Mohamed, who is alleged to have appeared in the video, is arrested in Fort McMurray, Alberta, by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for the murder of Anthony Smith. He is returned to Toronto for an appearance in court on May 31.
• May 26 The Fords return to their Newstalk 1010 radio talk show. To a caller who asked if it was Ford in the video, Ford states "Number one, there’s no video, so that’s all I can say. You can’t comment on something that doesn’t exist." The Fords criticize the media and Rob calls reporters "a bunch of maggots." Ford also characterizes a caller as "racist" for asking if it was Ford in the picture. According to Ford: "That’s very sad, that she’s a racist," while Doug added, "Rob has taken thousands of pictures with young black men, with their hats on, with their little funny signs and everything else."
• May 27 Ford's press secretary and deputy press secretary resign and leave City Hall before Ford arrives. Ford apologizes for calling reporters maggots. Gawker reaches their fund-raising goal. Ford hires his brother's executive assistant as his new communications director and hires an interim press secretary. A poll of 1,400 Torontonians is released by the Toronto Star. It shows support for Ford at 36% in a projected 2014 mayoral election against Olivia Chow, a result identical to a poll held before the stories about the alleged video were published.
• May 28 The Toronto Sun reports that it also was offered the alleged video. An editor in the newsroom received a call from someone who had a video, asking if the newspaper paid for videos. The editor declines to pursue the video. It is Ford's 44th birthday and press crowd Ford at City Hall for comment about Price's statement to police. Ford tells reporters: "Ask my staff."
• May 30 Two more of Ford's staff resign, Brian Johnston, a policy advisor and council relations specialist, and Kia Nejatian, an executive assistant. A National Post reporter visits the apartment in the Dixon Road complex where the alleged video is stored and speaks to the resident. The resident describes how his apartment was previously rented by a drug dealer. The resident also claims to have seen the video and believes it to be authentic. According to the resident, gang members in the neighbourhood were angry at the video's sellers. The resident goes further to state that he and his friends considered making a fraudulent crack video starring an acquaintance and a Rob Ford look-alike nicknamed "Slurpy," but decided to not get involved in the controversy.
• May 31 Another of Ford's staff resigns, special assistant Michael Prempeh, the sixth departure from his staff. The accused who was arrested in Fort McMurray for the Smith shooting makes his first appearance in court and is ordered held in custody until another appearance on June 21. "Slurpy" becomes a trending term across Canada on Twitter.

  June

• June 1 Several hundred people protest at Nathan Phillips Square demanding Ford's resignation. The event was organized on Facebook and was expected to draw over 2,000 to the Square.
• June 3 A poll by CTV News and Ipsos Reid shows that slightly more than half of Torontonians believe that the video exists and they disagreed with the Ford brothers. Support for Ford is highest in the suburbs of Etobicoke, North York and Scarborough.
• June 4 Gawker reports that the person alleged to have had the cellphone video says it no longer exists and he will not sell it. An intermediary tells them that a copy might exist but has been taken out of Toronto for safe-keeping.
• June 5 The Toronto Star reports the house location where the photograph of the mayor with the young men was taken. The house was reported to have had a home invasion on May 21, 2013, injuring two persons. One resident of the home was an acquaintance of Ford from high school. The home is located several hundred metres from the Dixon Road apartment complex. Residents have complained previously of a steady stream of traffic between the complex and the home, prompting a fence to be erected to block traffic. Two residents have criminal records, one for minor thefts, one for trafficking cocaine. Maclean's identified the victims of the home invasion as Fabio Basso, Ford's long-time friend, and Basso's girlfriend. Resident Elena Basso tells Star reporters at her house that "Rob Ford’s the greatest mayor ever. You guys are scavengers."
• June 10 A court in Fort McMurray grants access to search warrant details related to the arrest of Hanad Mohamed to the lawyer for The Star and other media outlets. The details can then be used to make access to information requests to the RCMP. Mohamed's lawyer objects to the request to prevent the media from going on a "fishing expedition." "It seems to me, your honour, that the media is looking for some sort of information that would link my client to Rob Ford, or Rob Ford to my case, and then they’re just going to use that for entertainment purposes."
• June 11 The two campaign managers credited with Ford's election, Richard Ciano, president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, and Nick Kouvalis, who are partners in Campaign Research, say they will not work on Ford's re-election unless he deals with his "health and well-being." They said they had asked Ford to address his health issues as early as February. Ford fires Councillor Jaye Robinson from the City Council's executive committee after she suggests he take a leave of absence to deal with his personal problems.
• June 12 Doug Ford says he will not run for Council in 2014, but will work on his brother's mayoral campaign.
• June 13 As part of the "Project Traveller" pre-dawn raid, police enter the home of Muhammad Khattak, one of the men photographed with Ford outside the suspected crackhouse, and remove a laptop and cellphones. The Toronto Star reports that sources have told them surveillance by police detectives has found information about the cellphone video. Monir Kassim, who also appeared in the photograph, is arrested too. Police also arrest Mohamed Siad, who had originally shown the Ford video to the two Toronto Star reporters. At a press conference about the raids, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair refused to link the investigation and raids to Ford.
• June 14 Hacker collective Anonymous announced via Twitter that it believes a copy of the alleged video exists in Alberta. The Toronto Star identifies the third man with Ford in the picture taken outside the Etobicoke bungalow as Monir Kassim. Kassim was arrested in the June 13 raids for "trafficking in weapons and drugs for the benefit of a criminal organization," and other charges. A letter from Ford is presented by the defence in the sentencing of Sandro Lisi after Lisi's conviction for threatening to kill a woman.
• June 17 Gawker announces that is looking for charities to give the "Crackstarter" funds to. It asks "Canadians of Canada" to suggest charities for the $184,689.81 it has collected.
• June 26 Christopher Fickel, a special assistant in Ford's office, resigns. Ontario Attorney General John Gerretsen declines to name what laws are preventing Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair from indicating if Ford is or is not under investigation, when questioned by the press. The National Post identifies "Slurpy," the man who was asked to appear in a fake crack video as Rob Ford. They report that he does not look like Ford and that he said he rejected appearing in the bogus video.
• June 27 Nisar Hashimi pleads guilty to a manslaughter charge in the death of Anthony Smith and aggravated assault in the shooting of Mohammad Khattak, the other man in the photo with Ford. Hashimi's plea avoids a trial.

  July

• July 2 The CBC, The Globe and Mail, Toronto Sun and other news organizations request a Toronto court to unseal police search warrants in the raids on the gangs. According to the news organizations' lawyer, the documents should be public knowledge unless there is a good reason to withhold them. The action is to determine if Rob Ford is somehow connected to the criminal organizations. The Crown asks for a six-month delay in releasing the warrants.
• July 9 Muhammad Khattak is released on bail. He was charged in the Project Traveller raids for allegedly dealing drugs and had been held without bail. The reasons for releasing Khattak are protected under a publication ban, but his lawyer stated that Khattak is only 19, does not have a criminal record and has strict stay-at-home conditions. His case, on charges his lawyer characterized as "minor," could take up to 18 months to come to trial.
• July 18 Gawker announces that it will divide the money it raised to buy the Ford video evenly between four charities: the Somali Canadian Association of Etobicoke, the South Riverdale Community Health Centre, Unison Health and Community Services and the Ontario Regional Addictions Partnership Committee. The gross amount raised was $201,199, which netted $184,782.61 after fees paid to Indiegogo and PayPal.
• July 19 The search warrant of Hanad Mohamed's arrest is unsealed by the Ontario Superior Court, revealing that police seized four smartphones and a micro SD card connecting Mohamed to Nisar Hashimi. The contents of these devices will not be revealed until trial.
• July 26 Crown prosecutors drop first degree murder charges against Hanad Mohamed. He is now charged with accessory after the fact to manslaughter, accessory to discharging a firearm and accessory to aggravated assault on Muhammad Khattak.
• July 30 Monir Kassim is granted bail and released from detention.

  August to September

• August 2 The Toronto Star reports that Mohamed Siad, one of the men who showed the alleged video to reporters, was one of the people arrested in the Project Traveller raids. The Toronto Sun reports that Siad had been stabbed while in custody by alleged gang members who blamed him for causing the Project Traveller raids. It also reports that Siad had offered to turn the video over to police in return for dropping charges against him.
• August 7 Mohamed Siad, Monir Kassim and Muhammad Khattak appear in court to set trial dates. Siad remains in jail while Kassim and Khattak are out on bail until trial.
• August 8 City Hall confirms that "special assistant" Carley McNeil no longer works in Ford's office as an events co-ordinator. The Toronto Star reports that three sources say she was fired. She is the eighth staff member to have left since the video scandal became public.
• August 12 The Globe and Mail reports that Ford attempted to visit an inmate in the Toronto West Detention Centre, Bruno Bellissimo, in March, after visiting hours. The newspaper calls Bellissimo a "new character" in the video scandal, who has been involved in drugs and attended secondary school with one of the residents of the Rexdale bungalow where Ford was photographed.
• August 15 Toronto Sun columnist Warren Kinsella claims that the crack video was obtained by police via the Project Traveller raids and has been viewed by "many, many Toronto defence lawyers."
• August 17 Toronto Police interview five former staffers in Rob Ford's office about Alessandro "Sandro" Lisi, a private driver for the mayor, allegedly being investigated in an attempt to acquire the video. Both Lisi and Bruno Bellissimo were present at the Toronto Garrison Officer's Ball on February 22, an event where Ford was previously accused of being intoxicated.
• August 20 The Ontario Press Council announces it will hold public hearings in September to investigate 41 complaints about the Toronto Star and Globe and Mail's reporting during the scandal.
• August 27 A 'domestic assault' call at the Ford residence disrupts a police sting involving Lisi. Lisi contacts Ford and does not drive to the sting. Lisi instead goes home, then to the Grand Hotel on Jarvis Street, where Ford has checked in. Ford is observed the next day in the alley behind the Grand Hotel making an exchange with a man on foot, while in his SUV. The alleyway area is known as "crack central" by locals. Ford stays in the hotel for three days.
• September 9 The Ontario Press Council holds hearings on Globe and Star stories, with editors Michael Cooke and John Stackhouse testifying. The Ford brothers do not attend.

  October

• October 1 Sandro Lisi and another man are arrested by police in Etobicoke. Lisi is charged with possession of and trafficking in marijuana, possession of the proceeds of crime and conspiracy. The arrest is part of the larger Project Traveller probe. Charges would later be dismissed May 8, 2015.
• October 2 Doug Ford talks to the Toronto Sun about the Lisi arrests: "I support the police investigation. I don’t know this guy. Never seen him, never met him — ever."
• October 7 A leaked police document links Lisi to an attempt to exchange marijuana for "the return of a cellular phone stolen from an associate" in March 2013.
• October 16 The Globe and Mail and Toronto Star are fully exonerated by the Ontario Press Council. Doug Ford accuses the agency of being "a bunch of cronies."
• October 23 The Toronto Star reports that the Rexdale bungalow where Ford was photographed was under surveillance by police, and Mohamed Siad, who tried to sell the video to the Star, was observed on several occasions visiting the residence. Police surveillance records also correspond to the date and time of a meeting between Gawker editor John Cook and Siad.
• October 30 The Ontario Superior Court orders that a 480-page police document that was used to obtain search warrants for Lisi be made public. Peter Jacobsen, the lawyer who is representing The Globe and Mail and other news organizations, notes that the information is "exceptionally long" given the nature of Lisi's charges.
• October 31 Heavily redacted court documents released show that Toronto Police investigated the alleged crack video of Ford and the attempted recovery of the video by Lisi. Surveillance photographs show Ford meeting Lisi in various locations. Ford and Lisi were trailed and monitored by police from March until October 2013, including the use of a Cessna plane after Lisi started using "counter-surveillance" methods to lose police. In the course of the investigation, former mayoral staffer Chris Fickel was interviewed by Toronto Police and suggested that Lisi was the source of marijuana and cocaine for Ford.

  November

• November 1 Dennis Morris, Ford's lawyer, appears on various media outlets denying that Ford is smoking crack cocaine in the video. Doug Ford urges the public release of the video: "Let’s see the video, the Chief said there’s a video and I believe the Chief. Rob hasn’t been charged with anything, he hasn’t broken a law, and he’s been convicted, he’s been convicted by the media." Sandro Lisi is released on $5,000 bail. The Toronto Region Board of Trade calls for Ford to take a leave of absence.
• November 2 Ford refuses to speak to reporters and calls police when media follow him. Ford meets with deputy mayor Norm Kelly who passes on recommendations from Councillors and staff for Ford to take leave of absence. After the meeting, Kelly tells the Toronto Sun that Ford will address the scandal on his weekly radio show.
• November 3 On his weekly radio show, Ford apologizes for "making mistakes", but plans to continue as mayor and run for re-election in 2014. "There's no one to blame but myself, and I take full responsibility for it. I'm the first one to admit, friends, I am not perfect. I have made mistakes. I have made mistakes, and all I can do right now is apologize for the mistakes." Ford also publicly asks Police Chief Blair to release the video to the public. "I believe that this video — I want the police chief, Bill Blair, to release this video, for every single person in the city to see," Referring to the content of the video, Ford responded "When the video is released, I am going to explain to the best of my mind what is in that video or videos".
• November 4 Rob Ford is "uninvited" from the November 6 "Police Chief's Ball", an event hosted by Chief Blair to raise funds for Victim Services Toronto.
• November 5 Doug Ford calls on Police Chief Blair to resign, calling him biased against Rob Ford. Ford asks Police Services Review Board Chair Alok Mukherjee for a meeting, but is turned down, stating that a meeting with Doug Ford would be viewed as interfering with a police investigation.
• November 6 Brooks Barnett, Ford's policy advisor resigns. Former wrestler The Iron Sheik appears at City Hall to arm-wrestle Ford as a form of intervention.
• November 7 Another video appears in the media depicting Ford in a tirade in which he shouts "I need fuckin' ten minutes to make sure he's dead!" amongst other threats. The context of the threats and the video are unknown. The video had been shopped around to various media outlets before being purchased by the Toronto Star for $5,000. Ford states that he was "extremely inebriated" in the video: "All I can say is again I’ve made mistakes. It’s extremely embarrassing. The whole world’s going to see it. You know what? I don’t have a problem with it. But it is extremely embarrassing, but I don’t know what to say but again I am apologizing. Again, when you’re in that state... I hope none of you have ever or will ever be in that state."
• November 8 The Fords' weekly radio show is cancelled permanently, by mutual agreement of CFRB and the Fords. Lawyers apply in court for the release of crack video, and further pages of the search warrant requests in the Lisi case.
• November 11 At a ceremony for Remembrance Day, Ford was greeted with "boos" from the audience and scorn from Veterans attending. At least one Veteran blatantly refused to shake his hand. A Ford spokesperson says he will appear in the Toronto Santa Claus Parade, despite his assurances to organizers he won't.
• November 12 In court, the two videos of Ford in the possession of the police are revealed to be different length videos of the same event. The first video is 90 seconds long; the second is shorter. Judge Nordheimer views the videos and reserves judgment whether to release them to Muhammad Khattak or his lawyer for viewing. Khattak, one of the men shot, had been arrested in Project Traveller raids for drug dealing. Khattak is seeking to make it clear that he was not involved in recording the video or attempting to sell it.
• November 13–15
• November 16 Ford is lampooned in the cold open of Saturday Night Live, being portrayed by Bobby Moynihan.
• November 17 Ford records interviews with US television networks CNN and Fox News Channel. To Fox News, Ford states that "one day I do want to run for Prime Minister" and reiterates he has no plans to step down as Mayor. The Fords also record the first episode of their "Ford Nation" television program.
• November 18 Toronto City Council votes to strip Mayor Ford of executive and budgetary powers, and assign them to Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly and the City Clerk. Ford and his brother Doug get into a verbal altercation with members of the public in the Council chamber. Ford compares the moves by Council to "invading Kuwait", and promises to fight the whole Council in the next municipal election. During the meeting, Ford knocks down Councillor Pam McConnell, while his brother was arguing with a spectator. Reports suggest McConnell was left with a fat lip from the altercation.
• November 19 A police document released in the extortion charge against Lisi details further information about the video. The document states that Ford is "consuming what appears to be a narcotic" and "the Mayor was apparently in the company of several individuals at the time of the recording" and that the video was made "surreptitiously" in February 2013. The case alleges that Lisi made threatening phone calls to Liban Siyad and Mohamed Siad in May 2013.
• November 20 An analysis of the Ipsos Reid poll shows that support for Ford has dropped to 16% in his home base of Etobicoke, the same as downtown, while he is more popular in the former York and East York and Scarborough areas of Toronto. The data also showed that 44% of respondents without a high school diploma support Ford, while only 17% of university graduates do. Those earning less than $40,000 per year are twice as likely to support Ford as those with higher incomes.
• November 25 Hampton, Florida's mayor Barry Layne Moore is arrested by the county sheriff on charges of possession of drugs and selling drugs. According to the Bradford County Sheriff Gordon Smith, "This isn’t Toronto. We will not tolerate illegal drug activity in my jurisdiction by anyone to include our elected officials."
• November 27 Justice Ian Nordheimer rules that the remaining content in the documents of the Ford and Lisi investigation are to be released to the public on December 6. The delay in the release is to allow for appeals to higher courts.
• November 28 Canadian news magazine Maclean's chooses Ford as "Newsmaker of the Year".

  December

• December 4 Transcripts of wiretaps related to the Lisi investigation are released. Taped conversations allege that Ford offered $5,000 and a new car in exchange for the video, weeks before the stories about the video are published by Gawker and the Toronto Star. In other conversations, Mohamed Siad discusses selling the video with Siyadin Abdi for $150,000 to the "Star or the other website." In another, Elena Basso calls Siad to say that Ford is at 15 Windsor Road, and Siad should bring drugs. That same evening, a conversation alleges that Ford is using heroin. Both Rob and Doug Ford decline to comment on the new allegations.
• December 5 Rob Ford takes part in "The Sports Junkies", a sports radio show on Washington, D.C. radio station, WJFK-FM. Asked about the latest revelations, Ford describes them as an "outright lie." He refuses to answer any question on the topic, saying they should ask his lawyer.
• December 6 Toronto Sun publishes an interview with Councillor McConnell, who says headaches, shoulder pain, and neck pain persist, even after spending "a lot of time with chiropractors and massage therapists." Ford knocked over McConnell during a November council meeting. She tells The Sun that she hasn't ruled out legal action.
• December 9 In an appearance on television with Conrad Black, Ford claims that the Police used Lisi as a prop to get him, although Ford declined to explain his meetings with Lisi. Ford also said that he was mad at Police Chief Blair, saying "I definitely think this is political. Am I happy with the chief? No, I'm not right now." Ford stated that he was no longer drinking and offered to take a urine test, although Black pointed out "Rob, there is absolutely no need to do a urine test right now."
• December 11 Police Chief Blair states that the investigation of Ford was not politically motivated or connected to a Ford demand for a 10% budget cut in the police budget of 2012. Blair is also asked about "Project Brazen 2", the investigation of Ford, but only comments that he "cannot comment on an ongoing investigation."
• December 12 Responding to Ford's accusations that he is a pedophile, reporter Daniel Dale serves Mayor Ford a notice of libel, threatening a lawsuit if he does not apologize. Ford, in a press conference, when asked about the insinuation said "I stand by my words, what I said with Conrad Black" adding "If you watch the interview, you’ll know what I said."

  2014

January

• January 21 The Toronto government releases 5,000 pages of Ford staff e-mails from the dates when Gawker publicized the video. CNN reporter Paula Newton first asked the mayor's office about the video at 11:15 am on May 16, before Gawker published its blog entry that evening. She later spoke with George Christopoulos about the video. The e-mails showed that the whereabouts of Ford were not known that evening and most of the next day.
• January 23 Game show Jeopardy! included an $800 clue under the category Scandal that has the following clue: "In 2013, Rob Ford, mayor of this 4th-largest city in N. America first said he smoked weed, not crack ... then, yes, ok, crack, too." One contestant replied correctly "What is Toronto?"
• January 29 In an interview with The Toronto Sun, Ford denies allegations he was involved in the death of Anthony Smith, who was shot to death March 28, 2013. Another story reemerged in the media, relating to the 2012 jailhouse beating of Scott MacIntyre, a known drug dealer, who was allegedly beaten to keep secrets about Ford's drug use. MacIntyre has filed a lawsuit against Ford.

  February

• February 26 Chief Blair reveals in interviews with Toronto media, that when Lisi was arrested on October 31, Lisi told investigators that Doug Ford would file a conflict-of-interest complaint against the Chief, saying "your boss is going to get his this weekend". The following week, Doug Ford started making complaints about Blair to the media. Doug Ford would go on and file the formal complaint in February 2014. Ford responded that he would add the latest comments by Blair to his complaint. Ford maintained that he did not tell anyone that he would file the complaint, when Lisi was arrested in October 2013.
• February 27 Rob Ford challenges the police chief to arrest him. Ford tells reporters "if he's going to arrest me, arrest me. I've done nothing wrong, and he's wasted millions of dollars. I want him to come clean and say how much money did it cost the taxpayers for surveillance on me and the planes that he had to rent."

  March

• March 3 Ford is a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in Los Angeles. Kimmel proceeds to ask questions and lampoon Ford on his substance abuse, alleged racism, drunk driving, alleged homophobia and alleged domestic abuse. Ford responded to Kimmel saying "I wasn't elected to be perfect". Ford later complained that the interview was a "set up".
• March 5 Oversight of the ongoing Toronto Police investigation into Ford and Lisi, entitled "Brazen 2", is transferred to the Ontario Provincial Police. The transfer is done at the request of police chief Blair.
• March 19 Police documents describing the video of Ford smoking crack are unsealed: "At one point Mayor Ford holds the glass cylinder in his mouth, lights the lighter and applies the flame to the tip of the glass cylinder in a circular motion. After several seconds, Mayor Ford appears to inhale the vapour which is produced, then exhale the vapour."

  April to November

• April 30 A second video of Ford smoking crack cocaine, reportedly recorded in the early hours on Saturday, April 26, emerges and is reviewed by reporters from The Globe and Mail. The Globe releases a description and a screenshot from the video. Ford's lawyer announces Ford will be taking a leave of absence from his campaign temporarily to enter rehab.
• May 1 Ford leaves town, for a rehabilitation program. Initially intending to check into a facility in Chicago, Ford voluntarily turned back at the border and entered the GreeneStone rehabilitation facility in Bala, Ontario.
• June 30 Ford returns to office after a two-month leave of absence in rehab.
• September 12 Ford suddenly withdrew his candidacy for mayor. His brother Doug Ford takes his place.
• September 17 The media confirmed that Ford was diagnosed with cancer.
• November 30 Ford's term as mayor ends.

  2015

April to May

• April 16 Ontario Court justice orders Lisi to be tried for extortion in Superior Court.
• May 8 Ontario Court justice dismisses drug charges against Lisi and second person.

  2016

March

• March 22 Rob Ford dies at the age of 46, 18 months after being diagnosed with pleomorphic liposarcoma cancer.
• March 22 Ford's office made an official statement about Ford's death.

  August

• August 11 The original video of Ford smoking crack was released by the Toronto Police Service after the extortion charge against Sandro Lisi was dropped.

  Ford's mayorship staff

• Mark Towhey, Chief of Staff – fired May 23
• George Christopolous, Director of Communications – quit May 27
• Isaac Ransom, Special Assistant – Communications – quit May 27
• Brian Johnston, Policy Advisor & Council Relations – quit May 30
• Kia Nejatian, Executive Assistant to the Mayor – quit May 30
• Michael Prempeh, Special Assistant – quit May 31
• Christopher Fickel, Acting Executive Assistant to the Chief of Staff – quit June 26
• Carley McNeil, Special Assistant – Event Coordinator – confirmed no longer working August 8
• Brooks Barnett, Policy Advisor & Council Relations – quit November 6
• Sanjin Petrujkic, Senior Policy Advisor & Director of Council Affairs, promoted to Deputy Chief of Staff & Director of Council Relations – transferred to deputy mayor's office November 19
• Earl Provost, Director of Stakeholder & Council Relations, promoted to Chief of Staff – transferred to deputy mayor's office November 19
• Brendan Croskerry, Special Assistant, promoted to Executive Assistant to the Chief of Staff – transferred to deputy mayor's office November 19, quit Early 2014
• Rob Krauss, Special Assistant, promoted to Policy Advisor & Council Relations – transferred to deputy mayor's office November 19
• Victoria Colussi, Special Assistant – remained with the mayor's office as manager, protocol and events, November 19
• Xhejsi Hasko, Special Assistant – remained with the mayor's office November 19
• Dan Jacobs, Special Assistant, promoted to Executive Assistant to the Mayor, remained with the mayor's office as Chief of Staff, November 19
• Jonathan Kent, Special Assistant – remained with the mayor's office November 19
• Christine Maydossian, Special Assistant – remained with the mayor's office November 19
• David Price, Director of Operations and Logistics – terminated November 20
• Thomas Beyer, Special Assistant – remained with the mayor's office November 19, resigned March 7, 2014 for medical reasons