(Repeating story first sent on Sunday to additional
subscribers)
By Josephine Mason
TORONTO, Oct 18 (Reuters) - One candidate had to drop out
after video footage emerged showing him peeing in a cup, another
hid in bushes in camouflage to catch vandals defacing his signs,
while a third slew a dragon in his campaign video.
It may have been one of the longest federal election
campaigns in Canadian history but it certainly hasn't been the
dullest. For those who delight in the embarrassing revelation,
the unexpected intervention, and the truly bizarre, it has been
a campaign to savor.
Canada has not lacked for political farce in recent years:
the drunken and often clumsy antics of former Toronto mayor Rob
Ford, who admitted to smoking crack cocaine, gave comedians in
North America plenty of material when he was in office in
2010-2014. Indeed, one of Conservative Prime Minister Stephen
Harper's last campaign appearances before Monday's election was
alongside Rob and his brother Doug Ford at a rally in Toronto.
"It's an embarrassment of riches for comedians," said Steve
Patterson, a Toronto comedian and radio host. "It's been hard to
keep track" of all the mischief.
Numerous fringe parties who run candidates have long been a
source of amusement in Canadian politics. Take the
seven-candidate Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party, which
wants to give animals a political voice, or the satirical
Rhinoceros Party, which has entertained the electorate for more
than 50 years and is running in 28 seats - it wants to repeal
the laws of gravity and let children vote.
Unsurprisingly, social media revelations ended the hopes of
several candidates, even if some were based on behavior well
before they sought to embark on political careers.
Since calling the election on Aug. 2, the ruling
Conservatives have ditched eight candidates for various gaffes;
the left-of-center Liberals, who are leading in the polls, have
dumped five; and the left-leaning New Democratic Party have lost
another two, according to punditsguide.ca, an online database of
federal election statistics.
But it was old-fashioned undercover footage from three years
ago that forced Jerry Bance, an appliance repairman, to leave
the race. The Conservative candidate was filmed by a consumer
watchdog TV show peeing in a mug during a home visit to repair a
leaky sink and then dumping the contents into the sink while
only partially washing the mug.
In his attention-grabbing campaign ad that went viral
online, an independent candidate in rural British Columbia,
Wyatt Scott, rode a Canada goose, slayed a dragon and fist
bumped an alien, all while outlining his views on the high cost
of university and calling for expanded social services and more
support for Canada's aboriginal people.
In rural Yukon, Conservative MP Ryan Leef, staged a
late-night vigil dressed in camouflage to catch a troublemaker
who was defacing his campaign posters. The former Mountie
performed a citizen's arrest, pushing voter Carrie Boles to the
ground and handcuffing her before the police turned up.
GOOD HAIR DAYS
Hair had a starring role in the campaign. The Conservative's
dominant attack ad targeted well-coiffed Liberal leader Justin
Trudeau as not ready to lead, ending with a dismissive "nice
hair, though" line. Trudeau at the age of 43 is much younger
than his two main opponents - Harper is 56 and NDP leader Tom
Mulcair 60 - and doesn't appear to have their graying issues.
The issue drew in Canada's biggest literary star, Margaret
Atwood, who waded into "#hairgate" in a national newspaper
column, pointing out it is the prime minister, not well-maned
rival Trudeau, who campaigns with a hair stylist in tow.
On the eve of the election, the Liberals returned to the
theme with a cartoon ad titled "Your Guide to Canadian Political
Hair" that stressed that it doesn't matter what hairstyle
Trudeau has, his platform would be the same.
The Conservatives tried other ways to suggest that Trudeau
may be too inexperienced to govern. Harper's spokesman Kory
Teneycke even told the Canadian Press in an interview before one
leaders' debate that if Trudeau "comes on stage with his pants
on, he will probably exceed expectations."
Supporters also got their 15 minutes of fame. An elderly
Conservative made headlines and caused a Twitter (N:TWTR) storm as he
launched an expletive-filled rant at TV reporters grilling
Harper.
And a man in a bathrobe became an enduring mystery after he
popped up during a controversy at a private Toronto men's club.
Finance Minister Joe Oliver had just canceled a speech at the
club after a furor about its exclusion of women from membership,
and Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland was speaking to reporters in
the club's foyer, when Bathrobe Guy suddenly appeared in the
club's foyer in the midst of it all and hovered for the cameras.
He has never been identified.
But it was an intervention from the U.S. that perhaps made
many Canadians of different political persuasions smile, after
then Republican contender for his party's presidential
nomination, Scott Walker, suggested it might be "legitimate" to
discuss building a wall to separate the U.S. and Canada.
"He must not know we're good hoppers," tweeted one Canadian,
who posted a picture of ice hockey icon Wayne Gretzky jumping
over the boards around the rink and onto the ice.