Jose Canseco Will Not Be The Next Mayor Of Toronto, Despite Promises To "Work Out The Citizen Thing"

Insane and hilariously clumsy Toronto mayor Rob Ford is fighting for political life after a judge ruled that Ford had violated conflict-of-interest laws by voting during a council debate concerning his obligation to reimburse lobbyists that had donated $3,150 to his charitable football foundation. If an appeals court upholds that judgment, Ford will be forced to vacate the position, creating a leadership vacuum clearing the way for Jose Canseco, who declared his intention to run in the tweet above and received a frankly terrifying amount of support.

Sadly, it is not to be: one has to have Canadian citizenship to run for mayor of Toronto for some reason, and Canseco, worldly though he is, is not a citizen of Canada. He did play for the Blue Jays during their 88-74 season in 1998, but, oddly, the Constitution of Canada says next to nothing about the Blue Jays. The Toronto Star reports that this may prove an unpassable roadblock:

Canseco, the former Blue Jays slugger, conceded in an email on Friday morning that, as an American citizen, he cannot run for mayor of Toronto. In a conversation on Twitter around 1:30 a.m. Friday, he had said that he planned to "work out the citizen thing" in order to challenge Rob Ford in a byelection.

"I do want to run," Canseco, 48, wrote in the email. "It's a good cause and I know I can do well. But I am not a citizen so it's a moot point. Unless the rules are different."

The rules are not different.

The best part? Rob Ford was shook:

Ford, once considered a no-chance mayoral pretender himself, appeared to take Canseco seriously when asked about him at a Friday appearance. "Whoever wants to run against me, like I said, you never underestimate the competition. Whoever wants to run, I encourage them to run," Ford said.

Perhaps he has reason to be nervous—obscure Canadian bylaws notwithstanding, Canseco did recently get some good news on the citizen thing:

Non-Citizen Canseco Abandons Run For Toronto Mayor [Toronto Star]