Mel Lastman, long-serving and often controversial former Toronto mayor, dead at age 88
CBC
Mel Lastman, the brash, outspoken pitchman-turned-politician whose array of gaffes, missteps and personal scandals did little to diminish a remarkable career as mayor of Canada's largest city, has died at the age of 88.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford confirmed the news in a Saturday evening tweet, describing Lastman as a "true leader and builder" for Toronto.
"He was a great Mayor and he touched many lives," Ford said.
"Mel, you will truly be missed. My thoughts are with the Lastman family at this difficult time."
Reacting to Lastman's death, federal Conservative Party Leader Erin O'Toole described him as a "remarkable leader," while Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown said he had a "wealth of knowledge" on Toronto, Ontario and Canada as a whole.
"I got to know him while I was serving at the provincial level," Brown said in a tweet. "He leaves behind a very impressive legacy of city building."
A funeral will be held Monday at 10:00 a.m. at Benjamin's Park Memorial Chapel.
A staunch defender of all things Toronto, the diminutive Mayor Mel wore his love for the city on his sleeve during a raucous six-year reign as mayor, which followed 10 straight terms — 25 years — as the mayor of the suburb of North York.
His shoot-from-the-lip style earned him a reputation as a lovable bumbler, one who summoned the army during a snowstorm, pleaded with the Spice Girls to stay together and even threatened to kill a journalist.
But none of it — the bug-eyed rants, the off-colour remarks, the illicit affair with a woman who claimed her two 40-something sons were his illegitimate children — seemed to diminish Lastman's popularity.
In 2001, with the eyes of the world on Toronto's bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games, Lastman told a newspaper he was apprehensive about a diplomatic trip to Kenya because of his fear of snakes.
"What the hell would I want to go to a place like Mombasa?" he later said. "I just see myself in a pot of boiling water with all these natives dancing around me."
The 2008 Games went to Beijing. Whether Lastman's remarks had anything to do with the decision remains a point of lingering debate.
Lastman's reputation went global in 2003 when Toronto was in the grips of a deadly SARS outbreak. The city's tourism industry suffered a major blow when the World Health Organization warned people away.