London, Ont., Ward 1 city councillor Michael van Holst is seeking re-election after declaring he was interested in running for mayor.
Last month, van Holst posed a question on his website in a post entitled, “Will you help Michael run for Mayor in 2022?”
At the time, van Holst did not formally file his application with the city, noting on his website, “I’m looking to see if we can put together a viable campaign to go after the mayor’s seat.”
As of Monday, van Holst’s name did not appear in the list of mayoral candidates, but did appear in the list of Ward 1 candidates.
The two-time councillor was first elected in 2014.
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An investigation was initiated in October 2021 by commissioner Gregory Stewart based on formal complaints filed by Mayor Ed Holder and other residents after van Holst spoke at an anti-COVID-19 vaccine mandate rally.
Along with referencing the October 2021 rally, Stewart’s report also mentions van Holst’s creation of the Order of Freedom, a creed that aims to provide an exemption for vaccine mandates and proof-of-vaccination policies.
980 CFPL has reached out to van Holst for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
As of Monday, there were five mayoral candidates and six Ward 1 candidates.
— with files from 980 CFPL’s Sawyer Bogdan, Andrew Graham and Matthew Trevithick
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