Fringe Candidate For Mayor Holds Up Debate At U Of T
Posted October 24, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The face-off between three top candidates Jane Pitfield, Stephen LeDrew and incumbent David Miller was delayed by an hour by a fringe candidate who’s also one of the most recognizable homeless people in the city.
Kevin Clarke showed up at the U of T’s Hart House Monday holding a broomstick, a chief prop in Miller’s last election campaign, and demanding to be included in the Youth Votes 2006 debate.
Clarke refused to leave the stage and accused Miller of preventing him from participating because he’s black. At one point Pitfield approached him in order to calm him down so the scheduled debate could begin, but he apparently responded with insulting sexual comments.
None of the major candidates would take the stage until Clarke had left – but because it’s university policy to cancel events rather than remove people, it took nearly an hour for the situation to be resolved.
Eventually he did leave, shouting threats to sue over being denied the chance to take part all the while, and the actual debate began.
All three candidates talked about the importance of including youth in the political process, with Pitfield suggesting voting age should be lowered to 16 and LeDrew encouraging his audience to get involved in politics.
Clarke also campaigned for the city’s top job in 2000 and 2003, and he ran for city council in by-elections in 1998 and 2001.
