People of Toronto

[bcholmes]

One of the cool things about Toronto is the people. Here are some of the personalities that make me grin:

• Ben Kerr -- Ben is a busker. He writes and performs his own country tunes on the corner of Bloor and Yonge, one of the major intersections in downtown Toronto. And he runs for mayor. Every municipal election. Hasn't won, but he doesn't let that deter him.

• While we're on the topic of mayor, I also like Enza Supermodel, the drag queen who ran for mayor in the last election (and came in third of about fifteen people). When Stockwell Day was ousted from leadership of the Canadian Alliance, Enza decided to run -- she figured that the Alliance needed to do something radical to fix their image as a bunch'a homophobes.

• Crad Kilodney -- haven't seen him about in a long time. Kilodney used to be the only writer in Toronto who made his living by writing, publishing, and selling his work on the streets of Toronto. I bumped into him a few years ago by chance and discovered that he sold out and became a stock broker.

• Ed Mirvish -- the guy who made his fortune with his Honest Ed's store ("Only the floors are crooked at Honest Ed's"), he went on to restore Toronto's theatre district. He buys his clothes from his own discount store. That's neat.

I love this city.