BEYOND THE FRINGE

The 'Other' Mayoral Candidates Are Given The Chance To Air Their
Beefs And Offer Their Solutions

An advocate for a single world government and the reverend of a
church that uses cannabis for sacramental purposes are among the
crop of candidates running to become mayor.

Want-to-be mayors from the fringe got the chance to share centre
stage last night with Mayor David Miller, Councillor Jane Pitfield
and Toronto lawyer Stephen LeDrew -- the three major contenders in
the battle for Toronto's top municipal job.

While 38 people signed up to run for mayor in the Nov. 13 election,
28 took up the offer to participate in last night's debate at the
St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts.

Market researcher Scott Yee, 23, entered the mayor's race talking up
the idea of creating a single global government.

"So, we'd have one president of the planet with one world
government. We'd all work together on world issues like the World
Health Organization and so on," Yee told the Sun.

Rev. Peter Styrsky, 48, of the Church of the Universe on Queen St.
E., said people who smoke pot and other forms of cannabis tend to be
down to earth and want to change the world in a non-violent way.

"To change a cannabis law is a Canadian thing -- it's a federal law,
it's not a city law," said Styrsky.

"Let's face it, we do tell the Toronto Police what to do, as mayor.
I think they should not be chasing people for cannabis, or heroin or
crack -- or anything like that. It's not a police matter; it's a
Health Canada matter."

Douglas Campbell, 76, who describes himself as a supporter of the
concept of "communism, or socialism or public ownership -- whatever
you want to call it," complained that under Miller's leadership, the
city has pumped tens of millions of additional dollars
into policing the streets.

That money, he contended, should have gone towards providing young
people with university educations.

"That's my job as I see it, to trying in the couple of minutes I get
- -- or the couple of seconds I get -- to try and say to people, 'If
you're voting for a capitalist candidate, you're voting to kill your
fellow workers,'" he said.

"That's all there is to it. Whether it's a Harper, a Martin or a
Roosevelt or a Hitler, they're all the same."