Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is shown at City Hall on Feb. 25, 2014.FRED LUM/The Globe and Mail
A larger-than-life replica of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking a crack pipe was featured front and centre in a Mardi Gras parade float sending up headline-grabbing Canadian celebrities.
The "Canadian Club" float ribbed Ford for his admitted drug use, and sported mockup Toronto Star newspaper headlines blaring "Mayor Ford: 'So I smoked a little crack"' and "I was in a drunken stupor."
A brief video posted online shows smoke billowing out from the Ford float's crack pipe as it rolled down a New Orleans street Friday night.
Painted on the side of the float were caricatures of Justin Bieber — who faces drug use allegations in Florida — clutching a smoky bong and former "Baywatch" star Pamela Anderson holding a sign reading "Remember me?"
Ford was making local headlines again this week when he challenged the city's police chief to publicly detail the cost of a long-standing police investigation into his activities sparked by reports of a purported Ford crack cocaine video.
The mayor, who is running for re-election, accused Chief Bill Blair of waging a politically motivated campaign and dared the top cop to "arrest me," insisting he has done nothing wrong.