Pickering mayoral candidates urged to withdraw for ‘person of colour’

TORONTO — A private email sent to all five candidates for mayor of Pickering has sparked widespread backlash after urging them to withdraw from the race to make way for a “qualified PoC.”The message, dated Tuesday and signed by Jessica Davis, was shared publicly by candidate Shaun Rickard. It reads in part: “I’m troubled by the lack of diversity in the candidates for the job of Mayor. Should a qualified PoC be nominated in time, I’m hoping and asking that each of you consider withdrawing your name from the race to support a PoC for Mayor."The five registered candidates are incumbent Mayor Kevin Ashe, Shaun Rickard, Lisa Robinson, Doug Cornell, and Andrea Wood. Rickard posted the email on X and asked followers: “Should all of us withdraw as candidates if a PoC decides to run for Mayor?”.Replies poured in by the hundreds, overwhelmingly rejecting the suggestion. One widely liked response from The Deport Report shared Brampton’s current mayoral candidate list and asked whether Davis was “troubled about the lack of diversity” there. Zachary Tisdale labelled the request “Race Marxism.” A longer reply stressed: “If a qualified person of colour wants to run for mayor, they should run. Full stop.”The episode fits a broader pattern of identity-driven pressure that has become common in Canadian institutions. Preferential treatment based on race or ethnicity is presented as progress, while competence, experience, and the free choice of electors are treated as secondary.No public record identifies Jessica Davis as an elected official, candidate, or prominent local organizer. The email appears to be from a private citizen exercising her right to express an opinion — one that a large segment of the public have clearly rejected.Municipal elections remain among the purest forms of democratic accountability. Voters in Pickering will decide on October 26 who best represents their interests; demands that candidates pre-emptively surrender the field on racial grounds undermine that process.None of the candidates have indicated any intention of withdrawing.

Pickering mayoral candidates urged to withdraw for ‘person of colour’

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