Canada: he registers his dog as a candidate for mayor of Toronto

2023-05-16 04:25:51

It was minus one. Registrations were about to close when the last candidate ran for mayor of Toronto, Canada on Friday, May 12. Arrived on rollerblades with a dog on a leash, Toby Heaps filled out the application form, writing his name on it. But he was not the real candidate but … his dog, Molly, aged 7, he told the journalists present on the spot.

Toronto’s Mayoral campaign is going to the dogs…literally.

the 101st and final entrant, is Molly. She arrived with her rollerblading owner at 1:59PM, just one minute before the nominations closed.

I’ll have more on this pups political asperations, coming up on @CityNewsTO pic.twitter.com/KwTgGfIOeb

— Momin Qureshi (@MominYQureshi) May 12, 2023

Banned from competing officially because of “anthropocentric” electoral rules, this seven-year-old lifeguard dog has “great ideas that she will introduce into this campaign”, her master told the local daily. Toronto Star. Starting with a law obliging any mayor who does not respect his promises to pick up droppings for a year, “including his own”.

“An excellent team of advisers”

Molly has gathered around her an “excellent team of advisers”, also specified her master to the Canadian newspaper, and intends to apply a policy of “common sense” on subjects such as public transport and affordable housing. One of his big concerns being the city’s use of road salt in the winter, which hurts his paws on his walks.

With Molly as mayor, “you’ll have a much more civilized discourse” at city council meetings, Toby Heaps said, since “when you have an animal in the room, people are more humane.”

A total of 102 candidates have submitted their candidacies for Toronto’s next municipal election, which will be held in June. The previous mayor, John Tory, resigned in February after admitting to having an extramarital affair with a former employee.