SURREY (NEWS1130) – A man who tried fighting ICBC over wearing a noodle strainer in his driver’s license photo is now running for Surrey city council.

OBi Canuel is an ordained minister in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

He says he decided to run because he’s concerned over proper representation.

“I couldn’t help but notice that our mayor had made $130,000 last year and the average Surrey city councillor salary is $62,000. Those aren’t the kind of salaries that I make or anyone I know makes. I believe the average salary is something like half of that. I was concerned there wasn’t enough representation going on and somebody that makes a salary that far out of reach of normal, average Surrey citizens, they couldn’t be properly represented.”

He says he hopes people don’t judge him by his Pastafarian religious beliefs. “I hope that people can recognize that there’s a political problem there and that my religion doesn’t necessarily have to have anything to do with it.”

He adds if he wins he will wear his colander headgear inside council chambers. “Why should there be an issue with that? I would be surprised if anyone at Surrey city council had any problem with anything someone had on their head.”

Canuel was stripped of his driver’s license last week after again refusing to remove the colander for his photo.

He argues it’s his religious right to wear it, just as other faiths are allowed to keep headgear on for photos.