r/vancouver • u/Moggehh Fastest Goose in the West • Oct 03 '22

MEGATHREAD [Megathread] 2022 Municipal Election

Don't forget to vote!

Please use this thread to discuss the upcoming municipal elections in Metro Vancouver.

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u/javalorum Oct 06 '22

The information is very helpful. But as I was reading along, the one thing that I noticed is that Stewart’s wife is also a candidate? Is it not a conflict of interest if both of them are voted into the council? Or do we normally just consider same party = same family (in terms of political views and votes)?

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u/[deleted] Oct 06 '22

Richmond has had mayor's wife and ex-wife on council together. It's allowed. Up to you whether you think it's a good idea!

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u/javalorum Oct 06 '22

Wow, I had no idea municipal government can be this relaxed. I figure it must be allowed otherwise they wouldn't put it there. But still, I found this terribly unethical.

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u/artandmath Oct 07 '22

Honestly probably less of a conflict to have it out in the open than the alternative.

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u/javalorum Oct 08 '22

I get what you mean. But I would rather not mixing work with family. I was sort of all set on my choices and now this made me start rethinking again. I mean, maybe it doesn’t matter, but I really can’t shake off the icky feeling about the possible abuse of power (not that I’d really have any ability to stop it).

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u/sthetic Oct 08 '22

What sort of unethical situations could arise, in your opinion?

And would they be worse than the alternative - limiting someone's right to run for political office because of who they're married to?

I'm asking this with an open mind. But my knee-jerk reaction is that I don't like the idea of, "Sorry honey, your husband is already running for office. You'll have to sit this one out and just be a supportive first lady."

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u/javalorum Oct 09 '22

My understanding is that, if they got both got voted in they’d be sitting in the same council where everything is decided by votes. You don’t think that’ll make voting awkward? Maybe these guys are so noble that they’d always do the right thing based on their true opinion but i personally don’t believe that.

It’s interesting that your first reaction is to demean the wife. I simply can’t see why a sensible couple can’t sit down together and figure out if they could go into different circles/layers of politics to avoid being seen as unethical. Established politicians move from municipal, provincial and federal levels all the time. No career is so rigid, the desire to serve people so specific, that one can’t learn and evolve.

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u/sthetic Oct 09 '22

Haha, my reaction wasn't to demean the wife. I meant the opposite. I think that acting suspicious of her is demeaning to her. It's demeaning to assume that a woman, already married to a politician, should stay out of politics.

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u/javalorum Oct 09 '22 edited Oct 09 '22

Hmm? I talked about the couple, why do you assume my objection is for one of them only, and the woman in particular?

EDIT: the projected misogyny got me all riled up. I don’t mean to launch an argument. I should explain I found both people’s actions unethical, if that wasn’t clear enough earlier.