The no-politics mayoral candidate questionnaire: Anthony Perruzza
“My favourite curse word is mannaggia”
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: Anthony Perruzza
Age: Old enough to drive
Neighbourhood: Weston and Finch
Last job: Toronto city councillor for Ward 7
My most-impressive trait: Making complex issues easy to understand
My least-impressive trait: Navigating my iPhone
The last time I experienced joy: When I got up this morning
My biggest vice: A cornetto pastry filled with Nutella
My coffee order: A latte with milk that’s not reheated or too hot (you have to taste the fresh milk)
The fast food item I could survive on for the rest of my life: Pizza, but I make it at home, so I don’t know if that counts
How much I usually tip: 20 to 25 per cent
The last book I read: The Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson
The last show I binged: Money Heist
The last concert I went to: Wisin & Yandel
A slightly embarrassing fact no one knows about me: As a young man, I travelled to Europe with friends, and someone stole our backpacks out from under us while we were sleeping on the beach. We were too tired (read: tipsy) to notice.
What a bad day looks like for me: When I don’t get enough sleep the night before
My first job: Delivering newspapers door-to-door on my bike at the ripe old age of 10
My biggest pet peeve: Bad construction
My celebrity doppelgänger: Javier Bardem
My favourite curse word: Mannaggia
My last splurge: My Ducati Monster
My biggest regret: No regrets
What I’d like written on my tombstone: "Here lies Anthony Perruzza, a great dad.”
Car, bike or TTC: Bike
Raptors, Jays, Leafs, TFC or Argos: Leafs
My favourite watering hole: Nino D’Aversa
The best view of the city: From Centre Island
The Torontonian I’d most like to spend a day with: Neil Young
Where I would live if not Toronto: L’Aquila, Italy
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