Cam Guthrie is the mayor of Guelph and, for the time being, that’s the position he wants to stay in.

Despite online rumours, Guthrie has confirmed that he will not be running in next year’s provincial election.

“You’ll see my name on the ballot, just not that one,” Guthrie says.

The mayor confirms he will be seeking re-election to be the city’s mayor, and will not be running for the PC party, as had been rumoured.

Guthrie, who is in Ottawa attending the Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s annual conference, says he learned of the rumour after receiving a call from his wife for their wedding anniversary.

“The phone call in the morning was from my wife Rachel saying, ‘happy anniversary, and oh, by the way, apparently you’re running for the PC party,’” he says.

“So, answer is no. I love being the mayor, and I am focused on being the mayor.”

Currently, the Green party is the only provincial entity to announce its candidate for the 2018 run-off, with party leader Mike Schreiner hoping to outdo his performance from 2014, when he received just over 19 per cent of the vote.

The PC party has yet to name its candidate for next year’s election. Last week, one nominee who put forward his name for the party’s Guelph slot, Thomas Mooney, announced that he was withdrawing from the race. He told the Mercury Tribune the decision came as a result of disagreements over how the party under leader Patrick Brown was being run, alleging that other candidates for Guelph had been asked to step down.

Guelph’s current provincial representative, Liz Sandals of the Liberal party, has not yet announced whether she will seek re-election. She has been an MPP for both Guelph and its predecessor Guelph-Wellington since 2003.