Sarah Thomson runs for mayor in horse-drawn carriage

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Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
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Sarah Thomson enters Toronto mayoral race

Sarah Thomson has formally entered the race to become Toronto’s next mayor.

She registered at city hall on Thursday morning.

This will be the second time Thomson has taken a shot at the city’s top job. She ran in the 2010 municipal election before dropping out to back George Smitherman.

At around 8:30 a.m., Thomson arrived at City Hall in a red horse-drawn carriage, pulled by two white horses.

Thomson said the stunt was used to illustrate just how far Toronto transit has come in the days since horse-and-buggy travel. She said transit is one of her top priorities and she’s in favour of road tolls.

“I’ve come out [in favour of] tolls, dedicated on the DVP and Gardiner for non-residents. I think we have to take the little steps and we have to take them now. I think that’s quite a big step and we need to take it,” Thomson said.

She also said it’s time to get the city moving forward.

“The fact is, we haven’t had the leadership, nobody has crossed the political borders, so there’s this wall — the politicians are here, and the way the city operates is on the other side,” Thomson said.

“We have to take those walls down. We have to be more involved in the way the city operates.”

She is up against a number of other high-profile candidates including Mayor Rob Ford who, in March 2013, she alleged made inappropriate comments towards her and then grabbed her buttocks — both of which Ford adamantly denied.

Earlier on Thursday morning, Thomson spoke with 680News political affairs specialist John Stall about her decision to run for mayor.

“I went to people and I asked them would you back me, and I had to make sure that I had enough money,” Thomson told 680News political affairs specialist John Stall on Thursday morning.

“The last time, I was able to raise $200,000 … and we were able to get third place in the polls the last time.”

Thomson also said she has a better team in place now.

“People that have experience managing a campaign. I have a much bigger team now than I did when I started in 2010,” she said.

Sarah Thomson enters Toronto mayoral race | 680News