While Kennedy Stewart's unsuccessful re-election campaign stole intellectual property from this very publication during last October's mayoral election in Vancouver, no amount of money they could have begged, borrowed, or stolen could have helped the incumbent mayor win it.
Coincidentally, no amount of money is what multiple local businesses have been getting from the mayor's campaign, months after providing goods and services to it.
As recently reported by V.I.A. sister publication Business In Vancouver, Stewart's party Forward Together Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»is currently for stiffing a local business on its $59,000 marketing bill.
That money is owed to local advertising agency , a proudly-union shop that employs more than 50 people. The company says it aims "to have social impact and unleash progressive movements."
The legal action comes on the heels of reporting that another local business says by the former mayor's campaign, for office furniture it supplied.
The party and nearly $1.1 million in expenses in the 2022 election, and it's unclear how much of that difference they've since been able to make up as they continue to solicit donations.
Whatever the amount, unlike Stewart's salary as an elected politician for over a decade as an MP and then our mayor, taxpayers won't be picking up this tab. Actual businesses who create jobs and contribute to the economy will have to pick up the slack on the unpaid expenses.
Stewart's failure to raise enough money to cover the costs his party racked up during the election could very likely result in the businesses he stiffed having to lay people off. He may be directly responsible for people losing their jobs.
What a legacy.
