Homelessness is not stopping this Halifax man from running for mayor

With a crowded field of 16 candidates vying to be Halifax's next mayor, candidates have not always found it easy to stand out. But one thing sets Andrew Goodsell apart and makes him uniquely positioned to comment on a central campaign issue: he is living rough in a tent in the city's south end.

With a crowded field of 16 candidates vying to be Halifax's next mayor, candidates have not always found it easy to stand out. But one thing sets Andrew Goodsell apart and makes him uniquely positioned to comment on a central campaign issue: he is living rough in a tent in the city's south end.

Goodsell, who is 38, moved to Halifax from eastern Ontario about a decade ago. Having experienced homelessness at different periods of his life, Goodsell says he is running in Saturday's election to offer voters an alternative to the career politicians who typically get elected.

"I was like `Well, I'm not voting for these guys that are running right now. We don't need more of the same. We need something different,' so I picked up my phone and called city hall," Goodsell said in an interview at a picnic table Wednesday.

He said the process to be registered as a candidate was straightforward: all he had to do was gather at least five nomination signatures and pay a $200 fee. He appointed himself as his own official campaign agent and provided as his address an office of the province's Department of Community Services.

Not surprisingly, Goodsell's election platform focuses largely on housing. His No. 1 pledge is to create what he calls "dignified public housing" to make sure Haligonians have a place to call their own in a city where the cost of living has shot up and homeless encampments have proliferated.

One of the leading contenders for the mayor's job, former Liberal MP Andy Fillmore, has said he would stop the expansion of encampments and remove tents appearing in non-designated areas within 24 hours. Goodsell, who said he has been ordered out of non-designated areas with little notice, said more support needs to be in place.

"It's clear when you look at the costs, (it costs) more than twice as much to keep someone homeless as it does to house that individual," Goodsell said. His other campaign pledges include prioritizing affordable transit and imposing stricter conditions on developers.