How to run for Toronto City Council or Mayor of Toronto

Wow, I'm impressed!

You've now moved from just "talking" about how messed up things are down at City Hall, and you've decided that you're going to look into running for Toronto City Council or Mayor yourself. Because hey, there's no better way to execute the changes that you feel are required, then to do it yourself. I mean, how many times have we been disappointed by Politicians who said they were going to do something, or stand for something, and then as soon as they get in, they change into the exact person that we were trying to remove...

I understand completely. And believe me, the thought has crossed my mind a million times to throw my hat in the ring and go for it, and who knows, maybe I will in the future (when I have money). But until then, I'm content to lash politicians daily on jackandcokewithalime, and even to groom potential candidates who are looking to make a run.

As such, I've gone ahead and done some research into exactly what's required in order to run for Toronto City Council or Mayor, and I've pulled a summary of those requirements here for your reading pleasure. If you're not interested in running for Council or Mayor, then hey, this will just give you some great insight into what it takes to get the job (aside from winning an election).

Believe me, people have a default assumption that getting your name on that ballot is almost impossible, a serious mission if anything... Well, that's just fear of the unknown, and I want to eliminate that fear for you right now!

Running for Toronto City Council or Mayor of Toronto

Requirements

- A Canadian citizen
- At least 18 years of age
- A resident of the City of Toronto; or own or lease property; or the spouse of the owner or lessee in the City of Toronto
- Not legally prohibited from voting (further details provided below)
- Not disqualified by any legislation from holding municipal office (further details provided below)

Nomination Steps

A person can only become a candidate during the nomination period, which for 2010 is between January 4, 2010 and September 10, 2010 (it's not too late!!).

In order to submit a Nomination (for yourself), you have to provide the following:

1. Current Identification (ex. Ontario Driver's License, or Ontario Health Card)
2. Qualifications for Council Form (confirmation that you have the requirements noted above)
3. Nomination Form
4. Nomination Filing Fee (Mayor: $200, Toronto City Councillor: $100) --> Yes, that's it!!! It's not thousands of dollars like we all assumed it would be!!

And that's about it! That's all that's required in order to submit yourself for Nomination to be a Candidate for Toronto City Council or Mayor of Toronto! That's all it takes to get your name on the Ballot!

You see, how hard is that? Is that the "Mission Impossible" that you thought it was going to be?

And the Nomination Form isn't a big deal... Here is a link to the form, Toronto Candidacy Nomination Form. Take a quick look... There's nothing to it! It's a 1 pager! In addition to the Nomination form, there is a Qualifications for Council form that also needs to be submitted, which is essentially just a confirmation that you do have the Requirements that I noted above. Here's a link to that form, if you're interested, Declaration of Qualifications - Council.

Now remember, that's just to get your name on the ballot. In order to actually get elected, that involves running a Campaign, and there are all kinds of regulations in regards to running a campaign (like who you can get donations/contributions from, maximums on how much donations/contributions can be, what the processes are for tracking and filing them, regulations for advertising, canvassing, public signs and all kinds of other information in regards to Campaigning). Again, it's not a big deal, you just have to follow the rules (and therefore have to know them).

For more information on all of the information I've provided above, here are some important links:

2010 Municipal Election Candidate's Guide (PDF File updated as of Feb 2010)
Toronto Votes 2010 - Candidates Informational Website
Toronto Candidates Forms (Links to all forms required for Toronto Election Candidates)
Important Dates for Candidates of the Toronto 2010 Elections (Council or Mayoral)
Toronto Elections Candidates Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

All of the information that I got in regards to the Requirements for running for Toronto City Council or Mayor of Toronto was taken from the 2010 Municipal Election Candidate's Guide. So please visit that link for further details like who is "legally prohibited from voting" and who is "disqualified by any legislation from holding municipal office".

Good Luck!! :)

--jackandcokewithalime


(Image:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22240293@N05/3994445484/sizes/l/ by Francisco Diez on flickr
Copyright:  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)