All Candidate's Meeting

I attended the All Candidate's (dis)Orientation Meeting. Photos weren't allowed, but here's the experience through my eyes:

Some candidates arrived by $80,000 limosines, with chauffeurs. Some arrived by cab. I showed them all up by arriving by a $100,000,000 subway system. I sat for a moment in the Peace Garden outside New City Hall, a beautiful place that's fallling into neglect.

About 50 or 60 people gathered in a committee meeting room, mostly candidates: for city council, for trustees, for mayor. Some were just bystanders who were not ready to jump in, but wanted information. It was a great mix of people, from suits to beatniks to a nursing mother. I might have been the oldest guy in the room.

The city election staff, in a power point presentation, covered the ins and outs. For instance, your millionaire uncle can't fund your entire campaign: $2,500 is the maximum from any one person. The spending limit is $1,200,000. My campaign total budget is closer to $1.80. What I understood is "be impeccable and scrupulous with other people's money." This means reciepts and rebates towards tax credits for any FUN/d/raising.

As I left, I thought: I'd better get some good people around me for this. If this is going to happen, it's going to happen because something bigger than me wants it to happen (and I weight 230 pounds.) So I enter this race humbled by the very idea of it, but if it's possible I would like to give back to the city that has given me so much. I'm not an expert politician, but I know a lot about the potential of people.

So send me your prayers and dreams for the new Toronto!