Vancouver firefighters' union endorses Kennedy Stewart for re-election -

Stewart welcomed the endorsement, calling it “extraordinarily necessary to me”

Vancouver Fireplace Rescue Companies at a serious fireplace on Powell Road that left dozens homeless within the Downtown Eastside not too long ago. Picture by Nick Procaylo /PNG

The Vancouver firefighters’ union has endorsed Mayor Kennedy Stewart for re-election, together with endorsing 10 councillor candidates from 4 political events.

“We’re fairly devoted to supporting people who acknowledge the problems the fireplace service in Vancouver has confronted and proven dedication via their time period,” mentioned Lee Lax, vice-president of Vancouver’s Native 18 of the Worldwide Affiliation of Fireplace Fighters.

“This non-majority council has been in a position to actually come collectively as a physique and at the least agree on one factor: Our fireplace division wants continued funding to catch up.”

Stewart, he mentioned, has been supportive from the “get-go.”

Stewart welcomed the endorsement, calling it “extraordinarily necessary to me.”

“The dual crises we’ve confronted with COVID and overdoses, when it comes to a metropolis division, there hasn’t been anyone that’s been hit tougher than the firefighters,” Stewart informed Postmedia Information. “They’ve finished such necessary work …. It’s good that they’re endorsing me, as a result of I’ve tried to assist them each step of the best way.”

Kennedy Stewart is introduced at a mayoral debate at the Jewish Community Centre in Vancouver, BC, October 3, 2022. — Kennedy Stewart is launched at a mayoral debate on the Jewish Group Centre in Vancouver, BC, October 3, 2022. Picture by Arlen Redekop /PNG

Along with Stewart, the firefighters have endorsed eight incumbent councillors: Michael Wiebe, Adriane Carr and Pete Fry from the Inexperienced occasion, ABC Vancouver’s Lisa Dominato, Rebecca Bligh and Sarah Kirby-Yung, OneCity’s Christine Boyle, and COPE’s Jean Swanson. The opposite two council endorsements are for brand spanking new candidates Iona Bonamis of OneCity and Devyani Singh of the Greens.

Which means the one two incumbent members of the 10-person council not endorsed by the firefighters for re-election are Colleen Hardwick, who will not be looking for one other council time period however as an alternative working for mayor with TEAM for a Livable Vancouver, and Melissa De Genova, who’s looking for her third time period on council with the Non-Partisan Affiliation.

Requested concerning the choice to endorse each incumbent councillor looking for one other council time period apart from one, Lax mentioned: “Our relationship with the eight councillors we’re recommending for re-election, these councillors have been among the strongest and most apt to take heed to the issues of firefighters.”

“The open door that we’ve had with every a type of councillors via this time period has been unmatched by any metropolis council that I’ve handled within the 12 years that I’ve been doing this work,” Lax mentioned.

The firefighters’ union had requested candidates to reply an on-line questionnaire, with questions on their commitments to funding for firefighters and priorities corresponding to overdoses. They acquired 31 responses from eight events.

The firefighters’ announcement comes simply after a sequence of high-profile endorsements within the Vancouver election. This consists of final week’s announcement that the Vancouver Police Union was, for the primary time in its historical past, publicly backing a candidate, saying they imagine Ken Sim and an ABC majority could be the town’s most suitable choice.

Sim known as the endorsement an “honour,” however some observers have criticized the event. Progress Vancouver mayoral candidate Mark Marissen wrote on Twitter: “Ken Sim made a grave error in judgment by accepting this endorsement and shamelessly pandering to chase it.”

“This isn’t like an everyday union,” Marissen wrote. “They’ve weapons. We don’t.”

Vancouver mayoral candidate Ken Sim Picture by Arlen Redekop /PNG

Sean Orr, a council candidate with a brand new occasion known as VOTE Socialist, confirmed up uninvited at a candidates’ discussion board hosted by the Vancouver Police Union final week, waving a banner studying: “Police out of politics.”

Not like the police union, the Vancouver firefighters’ union has recurrently endorsed candidates in municipal elections up to now.

Election day is Oct. 15.

dfumano@postmedia.com

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