Vancouver firefighters union endorses Kennedy Stewart for mayor

The union representing firefighters in the City of Vancouver has endorsed incumbent Mayor Kennedy Stewart in the week’s upcoming election.

In a statement posted to IAFF18’s Twitter account, the union says that after “much deliberation” it has chosen Stewart, along with 10 candidates, to support in the Oct. 15 municipal election.

“[Thanks] to the hard work of our members & their vocalization of the issues they’re navigating, we’ve had support from candidates across party lines,” the post reads.

Related Articles:

• Vancouver’s Mayor Kennedy Stewart endorsed by prominent politicians and advocates

• Vancouver Police Union supports mayoral candidate in first political endorsement

• Downtown Eastside votes ahead of election as candidates promise action

Along with Stewart, IAFF18 is endorsing nine current councillors seeking re-election: Sarah Kirby-Yung with ABC Vancouver, Michael Wiebe with the Green Party of Vancouver, Rebecca Bligh with ABC Vancouver, Lisa Dominato with ABC Vancouver, Jean Swanson with COPE, Christine Boyle with OneCity, Pete Fry with the Green Party of Vancouver, and Adriane Carr, also with the Green Party of Vancouver.

Two candidates the union has endorsed are seeking their first terms on city council — Iona Bonamis with OneCity, and Devyani Singh, a candidate for the Greens.

The firefighters’ endorsement comes after the Vancouver Police Union (VPU) broke the ranks of tradition and publicly endorsed ABC Vancouver mayoral candidate Ken Sim.

In a statement last week, VPU President Ralph Kaisers said electing Sim and an ABC majority on council would “ensure that police and other front-line responders will have the resources they need to protect and serve Vancouverites.”

Related Video:

However, the move has drawn heavy criticism, with people arguing those who enforce the laws should not try to sway the public in who gets to write them.

Stewart Prest, a political scientist at Quest University, told CityNews the line separating police and political endorsements usually isn’t crossed for a reason.

“You can understand why, when you think about what could happen if police seem to be associated with, or are favouring, one side of political views over another,” he explained.

“Part of it is the fact that police are enforcing the rules that are being passed by these bodies and we really want to have that separation made clear so that people feel comfortable voicing opposition to certain kinds of policy.”

With files from Hana Mae Nassar