When Rob Ford was elected mayor of Toronto in 2010, his bluster and checkered past were widely known. A plurality of voters backed him anyway, eager to shake things up at a City Hall they viewed as elitist and wasteful.
It is widely held that when the names go into the hat for the 2016 Democrat presidential primary, only one will matter: Hillary Clinton.
Toronto's City Council has voted overwhelmingly to strip Mayor Rob Ford of some of his powers, trying to box in the brash leader who has rebuffed huge pressure to resign over his drinking and drug habits and erratic behaviour.
Toronto's Mayor denied that he coerced a female employee for oral sex, in a televised statement in which he also threatened to take legal action against ex-staffers who spoke to police.