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What surprises most in retrospect are not the words themselves. After all the endless replays, all the late-night jokes, even they can’t shock anymore. Instead, what stick out are the little things: the background, the cadence, the colour of his tie.

On Nov. 5 2013, Robert Bruce Ford, then three years into his only term as Toronto’s mayor, stepped from the elevator outside his office. He looked like he often did in those days: red-faced, red-scalped, his white shirt straining at his stocky neck. Halfway to his door, he paused and turned.

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You can watch what happened next on YouTube. At the urging of reporters, he bumbled through the daily news. Then he shifted stream.

“You guys have asked me a question,” he said. “You asked me a question back in May and you can repeat that question.”

And when they did, he answered: “Yes I have smoked crack cocaine.”

And then he doubled down.

“Am I an addict? No. Have I tried it? Probably in one of my drunken stupors.”