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A conventional politician might not wish to associate himself with the administration of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford, which comprised unprecedented years of chaos that culminated in his admission to smoking crack cocaine and being stripped of most of his powers. A conventional politician almost certainly wouldn’t wish to associate himself with Rob Ford had he been the mayor’s chief enabler.

“I’ve never seen Rob drink at any event, ever,” Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford told talk radio host John Oakley in 2013. Just a few months later, after videos emerged of a clearly obliterated Rob Ford at a Toronto fesrival, Doug first protested: “We go down to a festival. We have a couple beers and you have everyone on you.”

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And then Doug doubled down: “He doesn’t drink in front of me. Maybe I’m not around Rob 24/7.”

Everyone knows now, sadly, that alcohol was one of Rob Ford’s many demons. But he wasn’t a conventional politician, and nor is his brother. Doug Ford proudly points to his four years as a city councillor and adviser to his late brother as a key qualification in his current bid for Premier of Ontario.