Toronto's mayoral race is so robust with candidates, Bloomberg is reporting that even a dog is running.
While candidate Olivia Chow is widely recognized to be the front-runner in the race, there is no shortage of people who want to compete for the spot. And among the 102 candidates is even one man, Toby Heaps, who is running on behalf of his dog named Molly.
Their official campaign page says: "It may sound strange to run for the highest office of North America’s fourth-largest city alongside a dog (to be clear, I am the human candidate on the ballot and Molly would be Toronto’s first honorary dog mayor, following in the footsteps of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and cities in California, Colorado, Kentucky and Minnesota), but I have always fought for the underdog and I believe we make more compassionate decisions with animals in the room."
Chow on the other hand is focused on a multitude of issues. On housing, she recently told Bloomberg: “The market is completely skewed. It’s just sad. There’s no affordable housing — hardly any rental units, no co-operative housing.”
The report runs down her list of proposed solutions, which include "25,000 new rental homes over eight years; a higher tax on luxury homes and vacant properties; a fund that would take thousands of homes off the private market and give them to not-for-profits and community land trusts."
66 year old Chow is the widow of former New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton and, while she is the current front-runner, anything still seems possible. Her top two competitors are city councilors Josh Matlow and Ana Bailao.
Myer Siemiatycki, professor emeritus of politics at Toronto Metropolitan University, told Bloomberg: “To some observers, it looks like they’ve seen this movie before: Olivia Chow gets an early lead but can’t sustain it, and gets overtaken by someone else in the field.”
“I think that’s going to be harder this time around. The issues are just more complicated and wide ranging,” Siemiatycki continued.
Another concern is that conservative candidates Toronto police chief Mark Saunders and ex-city councilor Brad Bradford could have a path to victory if progressives wind up splitting the vote.
Siemiatycki added: “As we approach the finish line of this election, and depending on what the polls look like, there will be pressure within those different ideological camps to drop out and support another candidate whose orientation is fairly similar. And that could happen both on the right and the left."
But hey, we don't expect Molly to bend to anyone's will. Unless, of course, they've got treats. Regardless, she gets our vote...
