The beleaguered mayor of Toronto Rob Ford has finally admitted he smoked crack cocaine. After weeks of allegations from the press and denials by Mr Ford, Toronto's leader confessed in an emotional press conference yesterday. Fighting back the tears, Ford apologised to all citizens of Toronto, whom he felt he had let down. He admitted smoking the drug while he was in a "drunken stupor" and added that a one-time mistake did not make him a drug addict or an alcoholic. Mr Ford finally came clean after his own police force announced it had video of him at a Toronto drug den, apparently of him actually smoking the drug. The media had been running stories of the allegations for months but Ford continually denied them.
In spite of his confession and amid calls for his resignation, Mr Ford told reporters he would stay in office. Furthermore, he vowed to fight for a second term in office at the next election. He announced: "I was elected to do a job and that's exactly what I'm going to continue doing." He added: "I know I have to regain your trust and confidence." He tried to reassure the public that there would be no repeat occurrence of his misdemeanour. He told the packed press conference: "Folks, I have nothing left to hide. I would do anything, absolutely anything to change the past, but the past is the past and we must move forward. I want to be crystal clear. These mistakes will never, ever, ever happen again."