Mutt for mayor: New Westminster dog hopes to fetch votes in joke campaign

With just over a week to go until the Oct. 15 municipal election, the race is heating up. Especially for one New Westminster dog looking to fetch some votes after launching a mayoral campaign last month (Photo: bloodeagle231/Reddit).

With just over a week to go until the Oct. 15 municipal election, the race is heating up. Especially for one New Westminster dog looking to fetch some votes after launching a mayoral campaign last month.

According to his owner Andrew Riddell, Chopper brings a lot to the table.

"He feels like his canine population isn't properly represented, so he's come up with a whole bunch of great ideas," Riddell tells CTV News.

Those ideas include creating more green spaces, particularly dog parks. Chopper also hopes to encourage people to drive less often and get out for more walks in order to reduce carbon emissions.

Riddell says he and his 12-year-old daughter Amelia decided one morning that the two-year-old Bernedoodle would be the top dog for the job of mayor.

"I came up with the idea but she ran with it," Riddell says. "She's really good at making videos and posters."

The father and daughter quickly got to work creating posters and put them up around the community. They even created a YouTube channel for Chopper, with his own email address for potential voters to get in touch.

In one of the videos, the paw-litician describes his interests, which include naps, long walks and snow days.

A doggy door won't be installed in the New Westminster mayor's office quite yet, as Chopper's name won't be on the official ballot. Regardless, Riddell hopes his dog’s campaign helps to spread awareness.

"I hope it makes people think more about voting and maybe to put more effort into seeing who's running," he says. "Although it's hard to compare obviously to Chopper."

Since launching the campaign, Riddell says Chopper has been getting some looks when they go for walks.

"We get recognized as we're walking down the street," he says. "Even young kids know he's running for mayor and they're like: 'There's that mayor dog!'…it's fun."