Former police chief Mark Saunders is 'exploring a run' for Toronto mayor

Former police chief Mark Saunders is “exploring a run” for mayor of Toronto, according to a spokesperson.

Mitch Wexler tells CP24 that Saunders hasn’t made a final decision about entering the race at this point but is in the process of putting together a campaign team.

Wexler worked on Saunders’s campaign in Don Valley West in the recent provincial election and said that he would be involved in a potential mayoral campaign should Saunders throw his hat into the ring.

Saunders served as Toronto’s police chief from 2015 until his resignation in the summer of 2020.

He ran under the Progressive Conservative banner in June‘s provincial election but was defeated by Liberal Stephanie Bowman by about 1,800 votes.

At the time, Saunders said that running for office was an “itch” he had. But he said that his political career was “over” following his loss in Don Valley West.

“I have itched myself out,” he told supporters on election night.

Saunders spent 38 years with the Toronto Police Service before stepping down as chief in the summer of 2020. He later served on the province’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution task force.