Over the weekend, Toronto Star columnist Edward Keenan made his picks for the six top contenders to be the next mayor of Ontario's capital, after Friday's deadline for submitting candidacy papers came and went. Most notable in this year's mayoral race, Keenan wrote: the "whopping" 102 candidates who registered in time. Also notable: One of those candidates isn't human. Molly the rescue dog has thrown her hat into the ring, courtesy of owner Tom Heaps, who the Guardian reports showed up at City Hall in the 11th hour (and in Rollerblades) to register as a stand-in for his politically minded 7-year-old pooch from Russia.
Among Molly's platforms: to mitigate Toronto's use of road salt, which makes her paws sore. Heaps noted that, with Molly as mayor, constituents could expect more "civilized discourse," as "you've probably noticed when you have an animal in the room, people are more human." Molly is running to replace ex-Mayor John Tory, who stepped down in February after confessing he'd had an extramarital affair with a staffer. Other interesting candidates in this year's race: a former police chief, a comedian, and a senior in high school named Meir Straus, whose first name is pronounced "mayor." The teen notes he's not married, so can't have any extramarital affairs, and also says that it's unlikely he'll die in office. Election Day is June 26, with early voting running June 8 through June 13. (More Toronto stories.)
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