Earl Grey runs in provincial election

You won’t see this candidate kissing any babies. (Mel Hattie photo)

Trying to predict Nova Scotia’s next premier?

If you look to Facebook you’ll see that Jamie Baillie, Darrell Dexter and Stephen McNeil are all beat in popularity by a candidate named Earl Grey.

Earl Grey, a cat, was announced the new leader of the Tuxedo Party of Canada earlier this month with the death of former leader Tuxedo Stan, who died earlier this month from cancer.

The official Facebook page of the Tuxedo Party has over 18,000 likes. That’s more than twice the likes received by the official pages of Nova Scotia’s NDP, Progressive Conservatives and Liberals.

While bylaws maintain that cats cannot be elected to public office, Earl Grey’s campaign for premier aims to raise awareness of the status of cats in Nova Scotia.

Tuxedo Stan, brother to Earl Grey, became an international media darling last year in his campaign for Mayor of Halifax. Since then, the Tuxedo Party has kept its voice in local politics.

The party’s slogan, Because Neglect Isn’t Working, is reflected in Earl Grey’s campaign platform. The platform, released last week, includes suggestions that would have cat-specific issues recognized in the province’s Animal Protection Act.

The Tuxedo Party was founded in 2012 by a group of friends concerned about the status of stray and feral cats in the HRM.

In a new documentary on feline homelessness in Nova Scotia, Wild at Heart, Earl Grey’s owner Dr. Hugh Chisholm reflects on the party’s beginnings.

“A lot of people chuckled at first,” says Chisholm, “and then when they heard what Tuxedo Stan was actually standing for, most people thought ‘Hey, that sounds like a pretty good idea.’”

As of press time, the Tuxedo Party has not responded to the Gazette’s request for an interview.

The Tuxedos’ most recent tweet reports their candidate was “grabbing a catnip banana” and “taking a nap”.