Rob Ford, known internationally for his illegal drug use, emerged from his office on Tuesday afternoon to announce a new member of his campaign team: disgraced former sprinter Ben Johnson, known internationally for his illicit steroid use.

Johnson was stripped of the gold medal he had won for Canada at the 1988 Olympics with the help of a banned substance. He received a lifetime ban from competition after a second failed test in 1993.

Ford is seeking the redemption never granted to Johnson. Asked about Johnson’s past, he returned to his familiar refrain about forgiving errors.

“You know what? I support Ben 100 per cent,” Ford said. “We’ve all made mistakes in life. I’ve supported him from day one. And that’s the bottom line.”

He brushed off a question about whether Johnson’s presence would remind voters of his own drug use.

“If you want to get personal from the Toronto Star — this is the Toronto Star you’re going to get,” he explained to Johnson.

Joining them was Sam Tarasco, an actor from Trailer Park Boys, a Canadian television comedy about petty criminals.

Ford referred to him as “Cave,” short for “caveman,” an insult used on the show to describe his character, Sam Losco, who lost a trailer park election after he was drugged before a campaign speech.

Johnson and Tarasco are the first prominent people to sign on to Ford’s team, other than brother and campaign manager Doug Ford. Rob Ford said they would be joining him at events.

Johnson said only the words “full support,” and he declined to take questions about the reason for his endorsement. Tarasco also said little.

Under city rules, Ford is not allowed to use his office for campaign purposes.

It was Tarasco who set up the meeting. He works for an events company called The Substance Group, which wanted to recruit Ford for a mystery project it is planning with Johnson. Tarasco is from Etobicoke and has mutual friends with Ford, and he served as a conduit to the mayor’s office.

Ford and Johnson got along well, said Substance Group owner Neil Forester, who was present. “As we obviously got to talking about the project, personal lives come out, all that kind of stuff, and they seemed to kind of bond,” Forester said.