The no-politics mayoral candidate questionnaire: Mitzie Hunter

Long hours, combative colleagues and mean tweets for days: running Toronto is brutal work. The past two mayors left in ignominy. Why, then, is the slate of contenders longer than the line to eat at Alo? A record 102 candidates know that the city is on the verge of delivering huge, legacy-entrenching projects: thousands of affordable new homes, several new transit lines and the 2026 World Cup to cap it all off. If everything goes to plan, Toronto’s next mayor will get credit for lifting the city out of the pandemic and into a more hopeful future.

But, first, candidates have the daunting task of setting themselves apart from the crowd. For voters who can’t make up their minds based on hot-button issues like TTC safety, affordable housing and the future of Ontario Place, we present the ultimate tiebreaker: a questionnaire in which the front runners give answers on just about every topic other than politics—the theory being that, if their policies haven’t convinced voters, perhaps their personalities will.

Name: Mitzie Hunter

Age: 51

Neighbourhood: Scarborough

Last job: MPP for Scarborough—Guildwood

My most impressive trait: Trustworthiness

My least impressive trait: Impatience

The last time I experienced joy: Celebrating my mom’s birthday with my sweet baby nephew

My biggest vice: Swedish Berries

My coffee order: Tea is my hot drink—ginger and lemon.

The fast food item I could survive on for the rest of my life: Smoothies

How much I usually tip: 18 per cent

The last book I read: Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis

The last show I binged: Ted Lasso

The last concert I went to: Mavis Staples at Massey Hall

A slightly embarrassing fact no one knows about me: I’m a bookworm. When I can find time alone, I just want to sit and read.

What a bad day looks like for me: Not meeting enough Toronto residents

My first job: At 16, I worked as a cashier at a Jamaican patty shop.

My biggest pet peeve: Gridlock

My celebrity doppelgänger: I’m still thinking.

My favourite curse word: It starts with s and ends with t.

My last splurge: A spring wardrobe update

My biggest regret: I never started my doctorate.

What I’d like written on my tombstone: "She lived a life full of love and service to others. May she rest in peace.”

Car, bike or TTC: Car and TTC

Raptors, Jays, Leafs, TFC or Argos: Oh come on, that’s not fair! Toronto has great teams, but since you’re pressing me, I’m a huge basketball fan, so Raptors.

My favourite watering hole: The Energy Shack Juice Bar

The best view of the city: From on the shores of the Toronto Islands

The Torontonian I’d most like to spend a day with: Masai Ujiri

Where I would live if not Toronto: I would divide my time between the beauty of Jamaica and the bustle of New York.