An 18-year-old has announced that he is running for mayor.
“My name is Meir (pronounced MAYOR) and I am running to be the mayor of Toronto. Despite what some may claim, I am definitely a real man and NOT three raccoons in a trench coat,” says Meir Straus in his campaign trailer.
Straus, who is in 12th grade and attends a private school in North York, told CP24 that when he turned 18, he asked for only one present from his parents.
“I just wanted to run for mayor,” he said in an interview. “My parents asked if there wasn’t anything else I might want, something more useful for my future. And I told them, ‘no.’ This is all I want.”
While he says his run for mayor is kind of a “joke” campaign, he told CP24 he wants to use this opportunity to talk about the issues that matter to him.
“It’s making me and my friends laugh, yes,” he said. “But I’m bringing something to the table other candidates aren’t. The world of politics needs humour, and in Toronto we need someone who gives a damn about the issues that surround my generation specifically.”
Calling himself the “most humble and down to earth candidate” of the bunch, he says that core issues he feels most strongly about include the inability for young people in Toronto to purchase a home, and the mental health crisis that’s spreading across the city.
There are also a ton of gags in his promotional material, including the policies he promises will be enacted if he becomes mayor. Some of these include covering the walls of buses with scratch n’ sniff, which will increase ridership on the TTC; training raccoons to become police, firemen and EMTs and banning politicians from kissing babies, “because that is creepy.”
There are currently 50 candidates in the race to replace John Tory on June 26. For the latest news on the mayoral election, click here.
