The no-politics mayoral candidate questionnaire: Rob Davis
“I can eat a whole tub of Häagen-Dazs coffee ice cream in one sitting”
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: Rob Davis
Age: 59
Neighbourhood: Humber Valley Village, Etobicoke
Last job: Founder of Campaign Solutions, a communications consultancy
My most-impressive trait: Creativity
My least-impressive trait: I was going to say procrastination, but I’ll answer this question tomorrow
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The last time I experienced joy: This week, when I heard that my old friend Bruce had found a donor for his kidney and pancreas transplant. Join me in wishing him a speedy recovery.
My biggest vice: Häagen-Dazs coffee ice cream—I eat the whole tub in one sitting.
My coffee order: Black and strong, like the next mayor of Toronto
The fast food item I could survive on for the rest of my life: Shrimp roti from the Real Jerk Restaurant
How much I usually tip: 15 per cent (20 per cent when the service is exceptional)
The last book I read: Future Politics by Jamie Susskind
The last show I binged: Better Call Saul
The last concert I went to: The Who. The biggest surprise was the number of fans using walkers.
A slightly embarrassing fact no one knows about me: I’ve had plastic surgery.
What a bad day looks like for me: Starbucks has run out of coffee.
My first job: Working at the Village Pharmacy in Forest Hill as a delivery boy when I was 13 years old. It’s where I learned all my Yiddish.
My biggest pet peeve: The number of potholes my car seems to find without even trying.
My celebrity doppelgänger: It used to be Denzel Washington, but now it’s Morgan Freeman.
My favourite curse word: Let’s just say I’m the wing commander of an F-bomb squadron. We have flown many missions together over enemy territory.
My last splurge: A German sports car
My biggest regret: Not going to law school
What I’d like written on my tombstone: “Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, I am free at last.”
Car, bike or TTC: TTC
Raptors, Jays, Leafs, TFC or Argos: Let’s go Raptors!
My favourite watering hole: Rod, Gun and Barbers, in the Junction
The best view of the city: From Riverdale Park East, right across the street from the home of William Peyton Hubbard, Toronto’s first Black alderman
The Torontonian I’d most like to spend a day with: Spending time with my mom and my brother is always a joy. We always talk politics, religion and money, yet it never ends in tears.
Where I would live if not Toronto: Barcelona or Berlin would be my top European choices. But the chance to go scuba diving every day would draw me to Cozumel.
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/the-no-politics-mayoral-candidate-questionnaire-rob-davis/&title=The no-politics mayoral candidate questionnaire: Rob Davis&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/MAYORAL_CANDIDATES_WEB-09.jpg&description=
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: Rob Davis
Age: 59
Neighbourhood: Humber Valley Village, Etobicoke
Last job: Founder of Campaign Solutions, a communications consultancy
My most-impressive trait: Creativity
My least-impressive trait: I was going to say procrastination, but I'll answer this question tomorrow
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The last time I experienced joy: This week, when I heard that my old friend Bruce had found a donor for his kidney and pancreas transplant. Join me in wishing him a speedy recovery.
My biggest vice: Häagen-Dazs coffee ice cream—I eat the whole tub in one sitting.
My coffee order: Black and strong, like the next mayor of Toronto
The fast food item I could survive on for the rest of my life: Shrimp roti from the Real Jerk Restaurant
How much I usually tip: 15 per cent (20 per cent when the service is exceptional)
The last book I read: Future Politics by Jamie Susskind
The last show I binged: Better Call Saul
The last concert I went to: The Who. The biggest surprise was the number of fans using walkers.
A slightly embarrassing fact no one knows about me: I've had plastic surgery.
What a bad day looks like for me: Starbucks has run out of coffee.
My first job: Working at the Village Pharmacy in Forest Hill as a delivery boy when I was 13 years old. It’s where I learned all my Yiddish.
My biggest pet peeve: The number of potholes my car seems to find without even trying.
My celebrity doppelgänger: It used to be Denzel Washington, but now it’s Morgan Freeman.
My favourite curse word: Let’s just say I’m the wing commander of an F-bomb squadron. We have flown many missions together over enemy territory.
My last splurge: A German sports car
My biggest regret: Not going to law school
What I’d like written on my tombstone: “Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, I am free at last.”
Car, bike or TTC: TTC
Raptors, Jays, Leafs, TFC or Argos: Let's go Raptors!
My favourite watering hole: Rod, Gun and Barbers, in the Junction
The best view of the city: From Riverdale Park East, right across the street from the home of William Peyton Hubbard, Toronto’s first Black alderman
The Torontonian I’d most like to spend a day with: Spending time with my mom and my brother is always a joy. We always talk politics, religion and money, yet it never ends in tears.
Where I would live if not Toronto: Barcelona or Berlin would be my top European choices. But the chance to go scuba diving every day would draw me to Cozumel.){kind=link}