canada

Rob Ford Crackstarter Update

John Cook · 05/23/13 05:10PM

As of this writing, the Rob Ford Crackstarter—our attempt to crowdfund $200,000 to purchase and publish a video of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine—has exceeded $145,000. At the rate it's going, we will reach our goal by Saturday, if not sooner. Since it looks like the money may actually come together, we are going to lay out the present state of play as clearly as we can. First order of business: The last time we established contact with the people who are in possession of the video was this past Sunday, and we have not been able to reach them since.

Jon Stewart on Rob Ford and Canada's National Crack-Smoking Pastime

Maggie Lange · 05/22/13 10:04AM

Jon Stewart began The Daily Show last night by noting: "The great thing about mayors is that they can maintain the eccentricities that get sanded-off and focus-grouped out of statewide or national politicians." And even among crazy mayors, he says, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford stands out.

The Dossier on Rob Ford, the Crack-Smoking Mayor of Toronto

Maggie Lange · 05/17/13 12:21PM

In a matter of hours, Robert Bruce Ford has gone from being known as "Toronto's conservative mayor" to "Toronto's crack-smoking mayor." But we're getting ahead of ourselves here. Before he was Rob Ford, Crack Smoker, he was Rob Ford, Canadian Football Fan. Or Rob Ford, Wildly Racist Bigot. You might even know him as Rob Ford, Wife Beater. To help us explore the Rob Ford of the past, we have compiled a compendium of Mayor Rob Ford's controversies—the scandals, the rage and outrageousness, the wit and witticisms—organized thematically below:

Gabrielle Bluestone · 05/12/13 03:25PM

He picked a good day to retire. After overseeing a successful impromptu spacewalk to fix an ammonia leak at the International Space Station, beloved Candian Commander Chris Hadfield transferred command to Russia's Pavel Vinogradov. Hadfield and two other crew members expect to return to earth tonight.

Canadian Cops Say They Foiled Terror Plot to Derail Passenger Train

Cord Jefferson · 04/22/13 04:37PM

At a press conference this afternoon, Canadian police revealed they had thwarted a terrorist plot to derail a passenger train operating somewhere in the Toronto area. Calling the bust a "multi-jurisdictional" effort, one which involved both Canadian and American law-enforcement agencies, authorities with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police offered few details but said they had taken into custody two men: Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, and Raed Jaser, 35, neither of whom is a Canadian citizen.

Is This the Redditor Who Claimed to Have Murdered His Sister's Abusive Ex?

Camille Dodero · 04/10/13 05:54PM

This past Saturday, a reddit user named Naratto used the Confession Bear—a meme with which reddit users admit often-true secrets like being obsessed with a brother, loving Justin Bieber, enjoying the smell of one's own ballsto talk about a murder. "My sister had an abusive meth addict boyfriend," Naratto claimed. "I killed him with his own drugs while he was unconscious and they ruled it as an overdose."

'All Cops Are Bastards': Montreal Woman Arrested for Posting Anti-Police Street Art to Instagram

Camille Dodero · 04/04/13 01:00PM

Cops have always quietly hassled kids for photographing freshly adorned graffiti and street art, the unfair presumption being that they might be the vandal returning to preserve their work. But even in that context, what happened yesterday in Canada is bonkers: a 20-year-old Montreal woman was arrested for posting a photo of anti-police street art to her Instagram feed.

Two Canadian Inmates Escape via Hijacked Helicopter in Daring Mid-Day Prison Break

Taylor Berman · 03/17/13 10:25PM

Taking their cues from direct-to-DVD action movies, two inmates broke out of a Quebec prison today by climbing a rope to a hijacked helicopter hovering above the jail's yard. Quebec provincial police later arrested three people 30 miles from St. Jerome prison, including one of the inmates, 36-year-old Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau. The other escaped inmate, 33-year-old Danny Provencal, is currently "surrounded," according to police.