Jason Lamarche as he appeared on Friday (left), photo Dan Toulgoet. The portrait on his campaign poster is pictured right.
The candidate running for mayor who was accused of racism and sexism in a previous election cycle has changed up his problematic facial hair.
Jason Lamarche became infamous after it was revealed that he had ranked women he'd dated by way of a misogynistic chart he published, including how he thought they performed in bed. The "date matrix" appeared on his website and was revealed during the 2011 election when he was running as a council candidate under the NPA.
Following that, a story that came out about how he may have “wrote racist, sexist and inappropriate comments on urbandictionary.com”. He denied it, saying someone who lived in his building had gained access to his computer and had made the posts over a number of years without his knowledge.
His face popped up on telephone poles a few weeks ago above a ridiculous claim (likely dreamed up after many bong hits) that he would cap rents on 1 bedroom apartments at $500, and 2 bedrooms at $1,000. His platform states he'll be able to do this to 50% of the rental stock in Vancouver by pressuring landlords with fines and "direct expropriation of their land" if they don't price units at these impossible rates.
Lamarche's name will likely end up at the bottom of the list after the election results are in. However his name will appear at the top of your ballot on October 20th, as he "won" the randomized draw that was held at city hall on Friday.
Deciding what order the candidates' names will appear on the ballot was done using a wire wheel mechanism that names were tossed into. Much like at a community bingo night but with much higher stakes, candidates' names were placed on pieces of paper, spun around then drawn out in a semi-dramatic (okay, maybe a bit dry) fashion.
Lamarche showed up at city hall to watch the wheel being spun, and his face was notably free of the toothbrush moustache he is seen sporting on his campaign posters.
His name was drawn first, and he let out a hoot.
Lamarche has not responded to our multiple requests for comment.
Learn more about the randomized ballot and whose name will be where right here.
