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News Tip: Toronto Crack Scandal May Be Too Much for Canadians

While Canadians tend to respect the privacy of their elected officials, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's admission of cocaine use may shift public opinion

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford admitted this week that he has used crack cocaine.Jane MossDirector, Center for Canadian Studies, Duke UniversityJane.moss@duke.eduhttp://www.jhfc.duke.edu/canadianstudies/Quote:"Canadians tend to want to respect the privacy of their elected officials more than Americans do. They do not demand medical records for candidates and do not demand to know about their private/sex lives.But this seems like a game changer. I think Torontonians thought he was outrageous and occasionally guilty of behaving badly, but they still supported him because he talked about lowering taxes and rooting out corruption at City Hall. There are so many scandals in the Canadian news these days that the Ford scandal did not seem as bad because it was about personal failings rather than misuse of public funds.His confession was unexpected and totally stunned people. There were audible gasps from the reporters to whom he made the admission."