Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity to American politics is attracting its share of Canadians

The 10-month run-up to Toronto’s municipal election has been rife with contradictory statements, nutty promises and faulty math, so maybe it makes sense that some Torontonians are keen to attend something called Rally to Restore Sanity. When local Web site Torontoist announced it was planning to sponsor a bus that would transport people to the event this Saturday, spots filled in a few hours. A second bus was ordered, and now it’s booked solid, too.

What’s surprising about all this is that this rally has nothing to do with Toronto—or even Canada.

The event, organized by Jon Stewart of The Daily Show, is a response to the increasingly polarized and unreasonable political scene in the U.S. It’s taking place on the National Mall in Washington and was inspired in part by a rally by Fox News pundit Glenn Beck. So, the question is, why would so many locals want to travel 800 kilometres to attend?

Torontoist publisher Ken Hunt thinks it makes perfect sense that Torontonians would want to be there. “It appeals to our very Canadian sense of reasonableness,” says Hunt. “I think it’s natural to join our voices in the call for Americans to behave a little more rationally. It’s like there’s a knock-down drag-out fight going on next door, and we’re going over to ask them to keep it down a little bit.”

Those without a spot on the bus shouldn’t worry their reasonable little heads. There’s a Toronto rally-viewing party taking place this Saturday at noon on the second floor of Paupers Pub at 539 Bloor Street West.

Now, go do something sensible (it’s election day, after all).

• Torontoist Goes to Washington to Help Restore Sanity and also Keep Fear Alive [Torontoist]

(Image: rallytorestoresanity.com)