‘I love you, Ford Nation,’ mayor tells Ford Fest

Mayor Rob Ford delivered his first speech since being diagnosed with cancer on Saturday, a rousing number that hit all the Ford Nation notes, and then he looked out longingly at a crowd he could not touch.

High fives and selfies were out of the question for the ailing chief magistrate who is sensitive to germs after undergoing chemotherapy for a rare form of cancer that forced him out of the mayor’s race. Instead, it was Doug Ford, the brother who has stepped forward to run for mayor, who was shaking hands and sweating buckets under the adoring gaze of faithful followers at the annual Ford Fest barbecue.

Giant crowds flocked to the parking lot of a Sears outlet on Islington Avenue, north of the 401, for free hamburgers, cotton candy, a carousel and live music.

But the main event was Mayor Rob Ford, who arrived behind the wheel of his Escalade around 7:30 p.m.

“I love you, Ford Nation!” the mayor yelled as he took to the mike, eschewing speech notes.

His wife Renata, tears in her eyes, stood behind him, along with his daughter Stephanie, wearing a black and pink dress and son Dougie, who was in a shirt and vest. His mother Diane and brother Randy also stood by.

Speaking with a gravelly voice, but lots of gusto, the mayor told the crowd they have been on the “right path” and that their wallets have more money in them now after his four-year term.

He relayed how he learned of his diagnosis, with doctors telling him that he was facing a greater foe than his addiction.

“I said, you know what? Go tell cancer that I’m going to put him where I put that guy in the mirror, a few months ago,” he said, to cheers.

“Every single person has had personal problems in life. And you find out who your real friends are,” he said. “I have to take a bit of a break. My health does come first. That doesn’t mean, folks that doesn’t mean I’m out of the race.”

He vowed to come back to city hall as a councillor for Ward 2, and help his brother implement the rest of the agenda. He danced a bit to I won’t back down with his son, Dougie, before handing over the microphone to his brother.

“Rob started a new kind of politics,” said Doug Ford. “It is politics for the people.”