Is 102 candidates for mayor too many? Some Toronto councillors aim to burst bloated ballots

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.

Dog dad in favour of a higher bar of entry

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 ample 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.

Too many candidates not good for democracy, expert says

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. 

Too many candidates, he said, "distracts from the core issues or debate that we should be having."

At the same time, he said, this election saw several candidates in the top 10 per cent or so who put forward important ideas, even if they weren't going to be mayor. He says a system where there are only two to three candidates would not enhance democracy.

Beebe said if the number of signatures are raised, the amount the fee is raised by "should be more connected to recovering the administrative burden for the municipality."

A thousand signatures takes more time to verify so the fee could go up by a small amount, he said.

A longer ballot has benefits, candidate says

Rick Lee, a candidate who received 241 votes, said raising the bar to entry might have excluded someone like himself, who doesn't have as large a network to draw from heading into the race.

"I think the 102 candidates, even though it was a circus-like atmosphere, it kind of drew our attention to the election, which was kind of needed," he said.

Even though he never believed he would win, he said candidates like himself "brought a lot of new voices into the mix that wouldn't have gotten heard from." Fringe candidates can also mean there is truly someone to represent all views, he said.

If the motion passes, it will be in the hands of the province to decide what a higher bar of entry might look like as they are responsible for setting these rules.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Melissa Diakoumeas, told CBC Toronto, "The Ministry reviews the municipal election process following each municipal election to ensure it continues to meet the needs of Ontario communities."

The rules were already made tougher recently. According to Toronto Elections, endorsements were only added to the nomination process in 2016. In 2018, the fee to run for mayor — refundable if you submit your financial filings on time —doubled from $100 to $200.