Complex answers in a soundbite era: Kennedy Stewart’s bid to convince Vancouver voters for a second term

He’s a professor-turned-politician and Kennedy Stewart acknowledges he doesn’t have a natural flair for self-promotion of his accomplishments, but the incumbent believes Vancouver voters will agree with his long-term approach to solving the city’s problems.

In a one-on-one interview with CTV News in Yaletown, where he rents an apartment with his wife and council candidate, Jeanette Ashe, Stewart agreed that his mayoral rivals had seized on the anger, fear and frustration of public safety issues to score political points as he’s been preaching compassion and complex solutions to complex problems. 

“My opponents are using gimmicks, like Ken Sim -- ABC, 123, 3-3-1-100-100 – it's all gimmicks, but when you dig below the surface of the soundbite there’s no understanding of what’s going on,” he said. 

Perhaps it’s unsurprising that a former professor and member or parliament hasn’t distilled his messaging in a way that’s likely to draw the attention of and inspire Vancouver residents, but he is resolute in the belief that affordable housing and social supports can dramatically improve many of the city’s problems, most notably the increasing visibility of street homelessness, random stranger attacks and, and property crime.

“A lot of what's happening has nothing to do with policing, it's got to do with folks falling through the cracks,” insisted Stewart. “Being homeless is not a crime, having a mental illness is not a crime, being poor is not a crime.”

If re-elected, Stewart is promising a new initiative inspired by American cities. If a merchant encounters someone sleeping in their doorway, for example, they would be able to call the 311 city services line to bring administrative staff to help connect the person with social service and housing options. He's proposing that as an alternative to calling 911 and triggering a police response, which is what currently happens -- whether it’s a violent emergency situation or not. 

CONTROVERSIES CHARACTERIZED FIRST TERM

Of Stewart’s four years as mayor, nearly three of them have been overshadowed by the pandemic. And while he’s optimistic Vancouver is in an enviable position to recover from the economic and social effects, he acknowledges the ripple effects continue.

One of his first major controversies came as a result of COVID-19, when the city had essentially shut down as the spread of the virus was poorly understood. He warned the city could go bankrupt.

That statement was widely criticized and proved to be alarmist, but it was followed by a more controversial statement when Stewart, who is head of the Vancouver police board, suggested the organization needed to examine potential issues of systemic racism after an elderly retired judge was arrested as police searched for a much younger suspect, who was also Black. 

The incident prompted an apology from the police chief, but Adam Palmer would not agree there is systemic racism in the VPD, and a subsequent attempt to freeze the force’s budget in the name of pandemic fiscal concerns further soured the relationship.

PUBLIC SAFETY VERSUS HOUSING FOCUS

His opponents have made various proposals to combat crime and “social disorder”, which they’ve blamed squarely on Stewart, despite being elected as an independent and needing consensus for each of his policies to be passed through council.

When CTV News asked whether he felt he was also being held responsible by his constiuents, he said, “When you've got the top job in the city, you've gotta take what comes your way.”

Stewart fundamentally believes that social housing and decriminalization of hard drugs will go a long way in addressing the street homelessness issues, while affordable housing and a re-prioritizing of zoning permits to help people afford to stay in the city will help with the anxiety of knowing whether a family can afford to keep a roof over their heads. 

“If you look at the cranes going up around the city, six out of 10 are going to be rental housing but in the past it would've been eight out of 10 were condos,” he said. “We've completely flipped and almost doubled the amount of housing that's coming but changed the nature of it so I'm really proud of that and that's through leadership on council.”

The former political science professor has also leveraged his knowledge of senior governments and leveraged his relationships, forged during seven years as a member of parliament, to advocate for resources senior governments are responsible for providing. 

“What your job is as mayor is to go to the finance minister, go to the prime minister and say, 'Here are my top three things I’m trying to solve, this is what I need form you' and then make the case,” said Stewart. “You listen to community of what the need is, you understand the complexities of the situation and then you inform the senior levels of government what you need and push for.”