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Vic Fedeli, Ontario MPP, Explains Why He Wears A Yellow Tie Every Dang Day

It's a big part of his brand.
Ontario MPP Vic Fedeli in 2015.
Colin McConnell/Toronto Star via Getty Images
Ontario MPP Vic Fedeli in 2015.

It's hard to find a photo of Ontario MPP and interim Progressive Conservative leader Vic Fedeli in which he isn't wearing a yellow tie.

And when HuffPost Canada asked Fedeli why he loves the colour so much, it was like he had been waiting his entire life to be asked.

He picked it to stand out as a candidate in the North Bay, Ont. mayoral race in 2003, his first foray into politics after spending his working life in business.

"I wanted to create a brand because I was unknown and so I decided that the brand would be a colour," he said.

Ontario MPP Vic Fedeli in his trademark yellow.
Courtesy Simon Jeffries
Ontario MPP Vic Fedeli in his trademark yellow.

But he wanted an "apolitical" shade, which ruled out green, red, blue or orange and left black, pink, purple, brown and yellow.

Once he settled on the final colour, it became the central theme of his campaign.

"And so my signs were yellow, my brochures were yellow, and the campaign would always say, 'Well, when you see the guy in the yellow tie, then you'll know that's the guy running for mayor.'"

Vic Fedeli with his mayoral staff from when he was North Bay, Ont. mayor.
Courtesy Simon Jeffries
Vic Fedeli with his mayoral staff from when he was North Bay, Ont. mayor.

After he won the race, North Bay residents got in on the action. When he would visit schools or seniors' residences, people would don yellow crepe-paper ties as an homage, a trend that continues today, he said.

"Everybody, everybody in our hometown, of course, they always know, 'Just look for the guy in the yellow tie. That's your MPP, that's your mayor.'"

He has 65 yellow ties from around the world, including one with Easter eggs, another with Christmas trees and a "beautiful" one from India.

Courtesy Simon Jeffries

But it "just can't be any yellow," he said. He specifically prefers a deep, goldenrod colour, a shade he calls "Pantone 109."

"I very rarely will veer from [yellow], because it was the theme, it was the brand that helped me get elected," he said.

Vic Fedeli at a team-building event with members of the North Bay city council when he was mayor.
Courtesy Simon Jeffries
Vic Fedeli at a team-building event with members of the North Bay city council when he was mayor.

There are only a few occasions in which he breaks from tradition. Pink Shirt Day, which raises awareness of bullying, calls for a pink tie, and he wears a black one at memorial services.

"I don't show off my brand when I go to a funeral," he said.

When reminded that he hasn't been apolitical since he was elected as a Progressive Conservative MPP in 2011, he still swore off ever switching to Tory blue.

"Never gonna happen," he said.

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