Is 102 candidates for mayor too many? Some Toronto councillors aim to burst bloated ballots
CBC
The City of Toronto had 102 candidates run for mayor in the June 26 byelection, but many people think that's too many. City council is expected to vote on a motion this week that, if passed, might see that number cut down considerably in the future.
Coun. Stephen Holyday is bringing forward the motion, seconded by Coun. Nick Mantas, that asks the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to review the refundable nomination filing fee of $200 and the number of endorsements currently outlined in the Municipal Elections Act, 25, for a candidate to run for mayor.
Holyday said he brought forward the motion because the race was too crowded, creating confusion for some voters. He said some who ran who weren't able to bring forward campaigns with a real shot.
"Perhaps in a city of 3 million people and in a land area as big as Toronto and as big as the campaigns are, maybe those numbers could be a little bit more proportionate to what's involved in a mayor's race," he said.
He said a higher bar for entry is a solution to a bloated ballot.
"It may make people that are thinking of running on a whim, or registering on behalf of a pet to think twice just because of the cost involved," he said.
The candidate who unofficially ran alongside his dog, Molly, is Toby Heaps.
Heaps told CBC Toronto in an interview Monday that his dog actually running for mayor was a joke everyone took a little too seriously for a little too long. He is in favour of Holyday's motion, with one caveat.
"I'm supportive of the inspiration of the motion ... to have a slightly higher bar, but I think we should be careful about how we do that ... so we don't introduce unintended consequences to exclude people who aren't of amble means."
Heaps, who received under 600 votes, said 1,000 signatures instead of the current requirement for 25 would be appropriate.
He sad this would demonstrate a significant investment in time to collect that many signatures, which would be more equitable than making the barrier to entry purely financial.
John Beebe, founder of the Democratic Engagement Exchange at Toronto Metropolitan University, is in favour of the motion, saying reducing the number of candidates would be good for democracy.
"It's basically a common sense step that we can take," he said.
Elections should involve serious conversations about ideas that are important to the public, he said.
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