Residents of Toronto’s Ward 15 (Don Valley West) will be heading to the polls on Nov. 4 to vote in a municipal by-election. This occasionally happens in politics, and wouldn’t raise too many eyebrows in normal circumstances.

Ah, but this by-election has been somewhat different. It’s turned into a political battleground of sorts involving a former Ontario premier, a former newspaper columnist and Toronto mayoral candidate, and a Toronto District School Board chair.