How should the media cover Rob Ford after admitting to drug use & alcohol abuse?
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has put the issue of alcohol and drug use -- or abuse -- front and centre. We ask three people in recovery how they think the public, and the media, should view this sensational story.
Obviously I was extremely extremely inebriated. The whole world's gonna see it. I don't have a problem with that. It is extremely embarrassing.Toronto Mayor Rob Ford
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford says he is sincerely embarrassed by the videos and reports of his extreme behaviour, and its safe to say both Ford supporters and Ford detractors are feeling real discomfort over the mayor's crisis.
Today, we speak with three guests who follow the Ford story with personal interest, because they know something about alcohol, drug use and abuse.
- AnnMarie McCullough grew up in the same Etobicoke community as Rob Ford and they moved in the same social circles. Mrs. McCullough says she is in long-term recovery, which for her means she has not used alcohol or drugs in five years. She is also the founder of Faces and Voices of Recovery Canada and director of communications at Orchard Recovery Centre in Vancouver.
- Peter Ferentzy calls himself a PhD Crackhead. He also says he's a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, Mr. Ferentzy is author of Dealing with Addiction: Why the 20th Century Was Wrong. He was in Toronto.
- Mary Walsh is a comedian well known to fans of the CBC's show This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Mary Walsh, too, is a recovering alcoholic who had a memorable encounter with Mayor Ford. She was in St. John's.
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This segment was produced by The Current's Marc Appollonio.
The Halifax Explosion occurred near Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the morning of December 6, 1917 (CP Archive Photo)
Last Word - Halifax Explosion
If the number of poppies on lapels is any indication, Canadians are proudly and powerfully grateful for the sacrifices of their soldiers.
Civilians are swallowed up by war as well. It hasn't happened often in this country, but while their husbands and sons and brothers fought in France in December 1917, the citizens of Halifax watched a fire aboard two ships following a collision in the harbour.
This Remembrance Day, perhaps also spare a thought for the two thousand civilians killed and nine thousand injured when the French munitions ship exploded. The CBC website has extensive coverage of the Halifax explosion and it's worth a visit.
For today's Last Word, we hear from a few survivors forty years later. Some of this may be a little difficult to hear -- it was recorded a long time ago -- but it's not hard hear out the emotion in the voices even after all that time.
• Discover CBC radio and TV clips from The Halifax Explosion -- CBC Digital Archives