Monday, October 26, 2026 ● Durham Region Municipal Election
Milo is a four-year-old Cavapoo from Durham Region, and he is running for Regional Chair. He has never missed a walk. He has never dodged a question. He has never once said “that falls under provincial jurisdiction.”
The official campaign anthem
Every other candidate released a platform document. Milo released a music video. He is confident Durham can handle both.
Authorized for release by Milo ● He has not seen it ● He does not know what a screen is
Meet the candidate
Milo was born in Durham Region and has lived here every single day of his life, which is more than most candidates can say and considerably more than most candidates can prove. He knows the region the way only a dog can know it: by smell, from the back seat, with his whole head out the window on Taunton Road.
He is not a career politician. He is a career companion. He has held one job, held it well, and received exemplary performance reviews from every member of the household, including the one who is allegedly a cat person.
Milo believes Durham deserves a Regional Chair who shows up, listens with both ears, and greets everyone at the door like they are the best thing that has ever happened. That is not a campaign promise. That is just how he is.
The platform
Real Durham issues. Genuine dog opinions. Every plank has been rigorously reviewed by Milo, who nodded at the important parts and then rolled onto his back.
Durham has leash-free zones, and they are lovely, and they are also somehow always on the other side of the region. Milo will build and maintain off-leash space in every ward — fenced, shaded, with a working water tap in July, which is a low bar we keep tripping over.
Milo can hear a bus from three kilometres away, and he wants you to know: it is not coming. He backs real frequency on the Pulse corridors, service that runs past 9 p.m. in Ajax and Whitby, and fare integration so a trip to Toronto doesn't cost like a flight.
The Lakeshore East extension through Courtice and Bowmanville has been promised, re-promised, re-announced, re-scoped and re-announced again. Milo is four. He is younger than this project and has already learned to sit, stay, shake a paw and ring a bell to go outside.
The regional portion of your tax bill funds transit, roads, police, paramedics, water and waste. Milo believes every line of it should be explainable to a neighbour in the driveway in under two minutes. Anything that can't be explained in a driveway gets sniffed again.
Milo has six beds and sleeps in the one you are currently sitting in. He recognizes this as a distribution problem. He supports getting actual homes built in Seaton, in downtown Oshawa, in Brooklin and along the corridors where transit already runs — plus real supportive housing, because nobody in Durham should sleep outside in February.
Milo has been conducting unsanctioned audits of the organics stream for years. He knows what is in your green bin. He knows what is in your neighbour's green bin. He offers this expertise to the region free of charge, and will fight to keep the raccoon-resistant latches that raccoons defeated in 2019.
Widening through Whitby and Oshawa, real merge lanes, and no return of tolls on the 412 and 418 — which are Durham's roads, used by Durham's people, to get to Durham's jobs. Milo does not support tolls on anything, including treats.
Brock, Scugog and Uxbridge should not be buffering. Farms run on connectivity now, kids do homework on it, and small businesses in Port Perry and Beaverton compete on it. Milo wants north Durham to be able to load a video of himself on the first try.
Milo responds to “who wants a treat” in 0.4 seconds from a dead sleep in another room. That is the standard he thinks emergency response should aspire to. He backs the staffing and station placement to shorten response times in Clarington and north Durham, where the drive is long and the minutes matter.
Frenchman's Bay, Paradise Beach, Lynde Shores, the whole Waterfront Trail: Milo wants water clean enough that he can jump in without anyone making a face about it. That means stormwater investment, fewer beach closures, and finishing the trail gaps between municipalities.
Durham's farmland feeds Durham. Milo will defend the Greenbelt, the Oak Ridges Moraine and the working farms of north Durham from anyone holding a rezoning map and a nervous smile. Uxbridge is the Trail Capital of Canada. Milo would like to keep it that way, and to smell all of it.
Milo has been clear and consistent on this file since he was eleven weeks old. He will not be moderating his position. He will not be entering into a working group. There will be no consultation period.
Need one more reason?
The record
Milo releases everything. No redactions. Some of it is unflattering. That is the point.
Grassroots organizing at its purest: knocking on doors with his face. Undefeated.
Sat politely in his own chair for the entire meeting. Set a standard council has yet to match.
Milo's entire toy budget has been flat for three years. Ask any other candidate to match that.
Came back with a floral tie, a firm view on rural broadband, and burrs.
The photo that launched a movement. Milo declined to fix his ear, calling it “authentic.”
Later described the cookies as “a gift from a constituent” and disclosed them in full.
Full transparency
Milo's opponents will bring this up, so he is bringing it up first. Yes, there was a bath. Yes, he was against it. Yes, there is photographic evidence and he has authorized its release.
Milo has nothing to hide, which is unusual in this line of work and also literally true, because he is soaking wet in this picture and you can see his entire actual size.
“I was wet. I was small. I was not consulted. I have moved on. Mostly.”
The Good Boy Tour
Regional Chair is elected across the whole region, so Milo is campaigning across the whole region. He will be available for pets at each stop, which is the entire policy platform of the tour.
Frenchman's Bay walk, then a firm word about the geese. Milo respects the geese. Milo does not trust the geese.
Paradise Beach and the Waterfront Trail. Will attempt to swim. Will succeed.
Brooklin main street meet-and-greet, followed by Lynde Shores, where the chickadees land on your hand and Milo loses his mind.
Downtown coffee, campus visit at Ontario Tech and Durham College. Milo is the only candidate students want to pet.
Bowmanville, Courtice, Newcastle and Orono. Standing at the future GO station site, staring hopefully into the distance.
Port Perry waterfront and Queen Street. Milo will sit for a photo in front of the lake and will not be rushed.
Trail Capital of Canada. Milo intends to earn that title on the region's behalf, one trail at a time.
Beaverton, Cannington, Sunderland. Bring your farm dog. Milo would like to make friends and discuss internet speeds.
Endorsements
“He is the only candidate who has ever been genuinely happy to see me. And I'm the mail carrier.”
A Letter Carrier — Whitby
“My kids have never once asked me a follow-up question about the regional budget. They have asked forty about Milo.”
Parent of three — Courtice
“He came into the shop, sat down, waited his turn, and did not ask for a discount. Best-behaved candidate we've had in here.”
Small business owner — Port Perry
“Sixteen minutes on the platform at Oshawa GO, and he stayed calm the entire time. Nobody else on that platform managed it.”
Daily commuter — Oshawa
“We asked him about the incinerator and he tilted his head. Honestly, that's more consideration than we usually get.”
Resident — Clarington
“We have serious and ongoing concerns about this candidate and intend to remain in the trees.”
Durham Regional Squirrel Council — opposed
The choice
Join the pack
Milo's campaign has no consultants, no polling firm and no war room. It has a dog, a leash, and a region full of people who could use something nice this fall.
The campaign does not accept money. Milo has no use for it and would eat it.
Questions we keep getting
No. Ontario's Municipal Elections Act requires candidates to be human, which Milo concedes is a reasonable rule that he intends to respect while continuing to complain about it. This is a parody. Milo's name will not be on your ballot. Please still vote — the real election is Monday, October 26, 2026.
The Chair leads Durham Regional Council, which handles the big shared stuff across all eight municipalities: transit, regional roads, police, paramedics, water and sewer, waste, and social services. In Durham the Chair is elected by voters across the whole region, which is why Milo has to be adorable in eight places instead of one.
Head tilted. Ears forward. Deeply concerned expression. Milo commits to reading the emissions reports out loud to anyone who will sit on the floor with him.
Yes. He may sleep through portions of the procedural items. He notes that this would not distinguish him from previous councils.
Once. He was against the vacuum. He is now merely suspicious of the vacuum. Milo believes growth is possible and that voters deserve to hear it plainly.
Your dog. Bring them to a tour stop. Milo is building a coalition and it is going very well and involves a lot of circling.
He will be very happy. He will spin twice. He will then need someone with thumbs to handle the paperwork, and that is where the region's excellent public servants come in.
