Campaigning is exhilarating! You get to go out into the city and introduce your self to the world as an advocate for a better tomorrow. You get to share some of the real concerns of the world with people who respond enthusiastically to our sense-based policies. I find it very encouraging we are able to do quite well. Where we lack in the funds we surely make up with our hearts. We truly have the best and most dedicated volunteers and supporters and I thank them!
I would like to thank all those people who volunteered and supported me in our campaign to give Victoria a Green Mayor. I would like to give special thanks to Janine Bandcroft for coming right out and endorsing me in my Campaign for Mayor of Victoria. Janine is the cornerstone of independent media here in Victoria, but you all already know that. I would also like to thank Ben Isitt for having me as his choice for Mayor, crediting my stand for the support of the homeless population and my fiscal common sense in preferring to invest in housing instead of policing. And to top it off Monday Magazine who got their edition out early get their endorsements out in time to affect more change, Thank you Monday Magazine!
Well you may well know I came in third. I got 1411 votes, 8.38% of those voting voted for a Green Mayor of Victoria while 73% of eligible voters didn’t vote at all. We were a full 6000 votes behind each of the established Candidates who where well in front of us trailing hopefuls. Both Dean Fortin and Rob Reid had campaigns funded at close to $60 000 each, which may be why they also received TV coverage nightly. Our campaign was on a shoestring in comparison with about $1229 donated. We spent that mostly on business cards promoting our website, handing out over 7000 in and around Victoria. We were able to get the most votes per dollar spent at just under a dollar per vote, while those other campaigns spend just under eight dollars per vote. What can be learned from this is we need to raise more money and we can be very proud of our ideas as they are why we have been receiving the levels of support that we do. We also need to start taking to our neighbours to find out why they didn’t vote and encourage them to change their ways. Re-motivating those who don’t usually participate can lead to big changes especially when they represent three times more votes than were cast.
Elections are very interesting, agenda-driven politics on a collision course with the record.
If you have ever gone to a debate you will have most likely seen one or more of our Green Candidates doing us proud. We need to re-invigorate debate in this country. We need to be out there expressing our ideas in new ways gaining access to new crowds. Join in with the Greens and add your voice to one of the upcoming provincial campaigns. You will have fun and make new friends and more importantly you will be helping to change our course towards balance.
I think that the greens will be very well received at the doorsteps of British Columbia during this next provincial election. There are some huge challenges in our provinces future and the sooner we get Green ideas on the table where they make the decisions the better off we will all be. That’s in the Legislature! Let’s get our first MLA elected this spring!
Hello Everyone,
I am feeling really good about all the hard work I have been putting into this Campaign. I have recently received some very powerful endorsements. First from Janine Bandcroft the editor of Street Newz, administrator of Left Coast News and anchor of Winds of Change at CFUV. I will be co-hosting on Thursday at 11 AM so tune in to 101.9 FM! Next, by Ben Isitt the Mayoral hopeful for the past two municipal elections who gave Mayor Alan Lowe a real run for his seat, just missing the mark by 1400 votes. Thirdly by Monday magazine! Thank you all very much for recognizing the real choice for Victoria is a Green Mayor. http://mondaymag.com/articles/entry/city-on-the-verge/
Let’s all pour it on for the last couple of days! I will be working hard and by tomorrow I will have handed out 6000 business cards! Make sure you call all your friends and acquaintances, talk to your neighbours and your co-workers, and let them know the chance for genuine change is here and now. We need a great turnout this Saturday - encourage everyone you know to get out and vote!
Media Release
Endorsements Give Steve Filipovic Momentum Heading into Final Stretch of Campaign
Victoria Mayoral candidate Steve Filipovic has gained momentum in the final week of campaigning by earning the endorsements of Monday Magazine, Street Newz publisher Janine Bandcroft, and Ben Isitt who lost the 2005 mayoral race to Alan Lowe by only 1,400 votes.
Mr. Isitt wrote to his supporters an email which stated he was endorsing Mr. Filipovic, “For his courage to support a different path on homelessness, respecting the Supreme Court ruling and proposing the diversion of funds from policing toward long-term solutions.”
Jason Youman, of Monday Magazine, explained their paper’s endorsement of Mr. Filipovic in a feature (Wednesday, November 12) which read, “The city would be all the richer with his genuinely rational and compassionate ideas mixed into the debate.”
Mr. Filipovic stated his pleasure with these endorsements stating, “This gives us tremendous momentum heading into the final stretch of the campaign. People have been really responding to my ideas and these endorsements indicate how ready Victoria is for common sense solutions.”
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Steve Filipovic
Candidate for Mayor
250 216 5903
www.SteveFilipovic.ca
I am very pleased that you are considering me for your choice for Mayor of Victoria. I have been working very hard trying to earn that privilege, and it is going great!
I am on the streets of Victoria for many hours every day of the campaign and have handed out over 4500 business cards. I have been introducing myself and sharing ideas for dealing with the issues we face as a city, and people have been responding with encouragement and a willingness to share the message.
Both Dean Fortin and Rob Reid want to hire 60 more police officers. This will cost the city tax payers $6 million more annually, on top of the $38.9 million we already spend. This will do very little to fix up our streets as the problems we have on our streets stem from poverty, not crime. Crime has been going down in Victoria and poverty is not illegal. We need housing solutions for Victoria.
Affordable housing and helping the homeless is on everybody’s mind. We have had a very tight rental market in Victoria for many years, which has driven up rents very high and more and more people are falling through the cracks and ending up homeless. We need housing solutions and I am just the guy to deliver them. I have been involved with residential construction for most of my life and know we can make affordable housing.
We need to support the 20 non-profit housing providers in Victoria. They have not been properly funded since the mid 1970’s when they created over 7000 units of affordable housing. They can do it again. We also need to promote the formation of housing Co-operatives, encouraging people to pool their money and buy properties which can be renovated to suit their needs. We need to invest in rent-to-own housing, as many workers in Victoria have been stuck in the rental market and have not been able to save up enough for a down payment on a home in Victoria. The cost of living in Victoria has risen and wages have not; rent-to-own housing affords people accommodation at the present market rate of rent but allows the accumulation of equity. This will help those people who we depend on to run our city to grow their nest egg.
Vote for Affordable Housing! Vote for Steve Filipovic! Tell your friends and neighbours. And vote on November 15th!
The main point to share is that if we let Dean Fortin or Rob Reid win we will get $6 million more spent on policing when we should be spending that money on housing. We don’t have a significant amount of crime on the streets of Victoria but we do have a lot of poverty and more cops are not going to be able to help as poverty is not illegal. What we need is real housing solutions - $6 million can create a lot of housing in Victoria.
So tell your friends and neighbours and everybody you know and see that Victoria needs a community activist as Mayor! And get them out to Vote for Steve Filipovic on November 15th!
Email me, greens@SteveFilipovic.ca and I will help you to get started. Help get this city on the path to a brighter future. You and your friends are the key.
Hello All,
I have been very busy as you could imagine and things are going very well. I was on Fire during the Restorative Justice Candidates Meeting. Jonathon Le Drew filmed it and will post it shortly. I will let you know when and where you can find it. It is long, 2hrs but will show that I know the issues that we are facing as a city very well. After the debate Rob Reid turned to me and said “You won that one Steve…” as did many others.
I have been mainstreeting up a storm, just shy of 4000 business cards handed out down town. I have also created 50 informative displays and strapped them to sign post around Victoria’s strolling areas. They are made of old Andrew Lewis signs that I cut up and pasted posters to. Adam Blainey and I have just got back from setting up 25 public signs which you will be seen in your daily travels I am sure. Thanks for the help Adam.
I would like you all to continue networking, sharing that we have a real option for change. We cannot continue with the status quo governing that both Rob Reid and Dean Fortin offer. They both have not come out in support of Tent Cities, and they offer no real solutions at all, just steady as it goes. Well it is not going anywhere and we know it. Let’s make the change happen.
Your confidence is the key! I will continue to do my very best in promoting our values. Strangers have been coming up to me on the street and thanking me for the message I have been sharing. People take the card I give them and walk away saying that they will tell their friends and more!
I know it is going to be close, let’s all join in and give it the extra push that we need to get this city on its feet and marching to a tune of equality for all!
Affordable Housing, Ending Homelessness, Reducing our Carbon Footprint, Supporting Public Assets, Improving Recreational Facilities, Bolstering Restorative Justice, Harm Reduction, and more Festivals!
To place a lawn sign order email Greens@SteveFilipovic.ca
Happy Halloween!
Oh what fun this annual event is! You get to dress up and run screaming into the night trying your best to scare away those things that scare you. Death, taxes, poverty, public speaking, what is it that most scares you?
I have been facing my fears so I am able to see them clearer now. What scares me most right now is that both Dean Fortin and Rob Reid will comply with the Victoria Chamber of Commerce and hire another 60 police officers for Victoria. We don’t have a problem with crime, the stats show that it has been going down in Victoria. We do have another problem and more police can’t fix it, because it is not illegal to be homeless or impoverished. We need to spend the $6 million on Housing not Policing. There has been no real increase in the rental stock of Victoria for years and the strain is showing itself both in the high rents of apartments and in the numbers who have given up and ended up on our streets.
This election is boiling down to the issues of Affordable housing and assisting our neighbours in need with the establishment of tent cities. My idea for affordable housing is rent-to-own, set up in such a manner as to distribute equity to those who care for their buildings and create positive neighbourhood relationships; co-operatives and non-profit groups play a big role in affordable housing as well. My ideas for tent cities are to follow the lessons learned in Dignity Village Portland Oregon and to help those in need to help themselves to shelter and security. That means setting up two or three small tent communities in and around Victoria complete with running hot and cold water and washroom facilities. The people in the tents can form their own committees to establish the rules and enforce them. The police will still be responsible for ensuring that no laws are broken and can be relieved of the duties of moving people along, a policy that is getting everyone nowhere. Location ideas: Cridge Family center for homeless families, Ellice Street park that has been usurped for housing but nothing has started yet and St. Anne’s as it is a provincial property and would help motivate the province into action on these issues.
It is time to start getting excited about electing a Green Mayor. I have been doing very well at the debates and have already handed out over 2000 handbills regarding the importance of affordable housing. It is a message that is going over very well as 60-70% of Victorians are trapped in the high rental market. This election is a choice between policing and housing, I support housing make your voice known!
This election is ours to win! The plan is to network, network, network, tell all your friends and associates. Come out and help in mainstreeting call me to find out where I will be and join in the fun of chasing away our fears and bringing in a new tomorrow. It is as easy as saying hi to strangers and discovering that they feel the same way as we do about so many important issues.
Happy Halloween, be safe and have fun!
Steve Filipovic
Candidate for Mayor
250 216 5903
www.SteveFilipovic.ca
Things are going well, Adam Saab helped out tonight by filming the debate so we should have something for you all to see in a couple of days. It went well as could be expected. There were some laughs and some great points were made. People thanked me for what I said, many of them would like me to win. I am sitting strongly in third place, though Hugh Kruzal has yet to show up for a debate, so I don’t know what he has up his sleeve. We will be starting to take it to the streets of Victoria tomorrow. I have my printing completed and will be putting up signs.
Any help would be appreciated.
I have figured out what this election is about, what we have to focus on to win. It is a choice between policing and housing. The Chamber of Commerce came right out and said that they want 60 more cops and no money is to be spent on housing. I don’t know what you think about this, but I do know that both Dean Fortin and Rob Reid will comply with the more cops part. Dean had just recently added 19 cops to the roster and Rob Reid has police recruitment encouragement on his website. Mayor Alan Low appears to have totted this line as well as he has had ample opportunity to create more housing, it is clear that we have the need. The Task Force on Homelessness he commissioned states that we should build some housing units for Victoria 1550 units to be exact. Nice work Alan. This prolonged state of inaction has created a housing shortage and driven rent right through the roof.
With real wages stagnant in Victoria and the price of housing skyrocketing people have lost ground in their struggle to move forward in their lives. With the resources at the cities disposal we can build affordable housing for everyone. With rent-to-own buildings we can keep a positive cash flow coming in to build more housing and have equity built up in the housing stock that we have made. When renters choose to move out they could claim a portion of that equity and use it to help them get their first house. If the rents were set up at the present rental market rate you could be in a situation where you were paying the same for rent as you do now but because you are involved in this co-operative housing venture you would be saving equity.
The City is yours to influence through the process of democracy and your voice is your biggest asset. Talk to everyone you know and tell them that the best way to move forward in today’s world is to make sure the city you live in is working for you! We can make affordable housing a reality in Victoria. 60-70% of Victorian’s are renters. They serve in every aspect of the City and yet they are held up in a rental nightmare. It is time to wake up your neighbours.
Steve Filipovic Candidate for Mayor in Victoria BC. 250 216 5903 www.stevefilipovic.ca
We got 11% of the votes in Victoria! This is great and is due to all of you standing up to the fear-mongering of Strategic Voting. I’m sure if Victorians were to vote in a climate free from the fear of a Conservative Majority, we would have done even better.
It is with this in mind that I have put my hat in the ring for Mayor of Victoria. I have been very busy and have created a website: www.SteveFilipovic.ca for my campaign. Please check it out and give me some feedback. I’m on Facebook as well and have a group site there called Steve Filipovic for Mayor of Victoria, BC.
Also, I have attended my first debate for this campaign and I did very well. I had people come up and compliment me on my vision for Victoria and in the way I handled the issues. Of course I was just offering common sense Green solutions to today’s problems.
Homelessness was on the minds of most of the people and I clearly had the best answers for their questions. I’d promote cooperatives, rent-to-own social housing to help people build equity, and actually doing the work to create low-cost housing for those who need homes. The costs of policing and health care due to weather exposure is estimated at between $30K and $50K per homeless person per year, whereas actually providing housing units would cost approximately $12K per year. And people would be able to get off the street. I also supported the tent city. Giving homeless people the right to protect themselves against the elements is just common sense and a great short term solution. In the longer term we need to get more dwelling units made.
Privatization came up as well and I stood out as the only one against it. A bus driver at the debate told me we pay $193 an hour per bus (6-8 buses) for a private service on the Malahat route which runs down from Cowichan valley in the morning then sits idle all day returning up island at the end of the day. We pay only $88 per hour of bus service to our public transit service; can you tell me why the Public-Private Partnership (P3’s) should get more than twice the funding as our own public transport? We must stand up to P3’s and help our public infrastructure to get the money it needs to stay vibrant.
I need your help to make this happen so pitch in and start networking with your friends and family. If you have any questions please let me know. I look forward to hearing from you!
Steve Filipovic
250 216 5903
www.SteveFilipovic.ca
Canada. I am so happy and so fortunate to be living in Canada, I voted today and I feel great! This democracy is a precious jewel shining full of hope for the future of all countries. We are a multicultural society, together, a mosaic. We are held together in large integrated and peaceful communities by a high standard for human rights. The “Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms” is our guarantee to live in a free and democratic society.
I have a copy pasted onto the back of my clipboard that I use for canvassing. I have used it to inspire me through several campaigns and I am very pleased with how we are growing and by what we are accomplishing as Greens. There isn’t a party out there not claiming to be us! Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. And for this we can thank our own efforts of sharing our values with our communities. Our commonsense approach of measuring issues with our values has produced many wonderful ideas that everybody is noticing.
Let’s all thank Adam Saab and his wonderful volunteers! They have run an exciting Federal campaign and no matter what the results are, we all appreciate their hard work and their sacrifice. We did great at the debates, we organized a mail-out and a call-out, we had newspaper ads, Facebook ads and Facebook groups. We had a great sign campaign, with plenty of signs on residences’ lawns and apartment windows, and we had you, talking to your friends and family. And of course, let’s not forget we had Elizabeth May!
Three Cheers for being Green! Hip hip Hurray! Hip hip Hurray! Hip hip Hurray!
Did you watch the Leaders Debate? With having put some much time in getting our Leader there, we were so excited and had built up some pretty high expectations. I am so happy to report that she has delivered.
Most Canadians opinion of the Green Party has risen dramatically, they now know that we have a wide range of policies and that we are not afraid to tackle any of the challenges that face Canada today.
Three cheers for Elizabeth May! Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!
It is now that she is focused on winning her riding, a long held Conservative stronghold. Peter Makay is the incumbent and is the Minister of Defense many people thought he was untouchable, but May has been able to reveal some weak spots in his armour. Like Conservative policy on environment, they still believe or rather try to spin the natural causes of Global Climate Change. The people of New Brunswick know this is not the case and are starting to look at new choices and new Leadership for their riding. Elizabeth May is who they are turning to. She has a great shot at becoming our first elected Green Member of Parliament!
Here in Victoria Green Candidate Adam Saab is running a fine campaign. The word is getting out and the response at the door and on the street is always very uplifting. It is plain to see that the people of Victoria like what the greens have to offer. The question is are they willing to stand up for it. To demand some positive changes that will help ease the burden off future generations?
In this election the choice is clear. The Conservatives are in denial about Climate Change. The Liberals, who signed us into Kyoto, spent $3.7 Billion dollars and got no reductions, are saying they will try harder this time. The New Democratic Party is campaigning for cheaper gas, a gimmick that will surely win them votes but clearly shows that they have no real desire to face Climate Change. And then there is the Greens who have been championing this issue for 25 years. Can you imaging how much better off we would be if we had elected a Green government 25 years ago?
The Greens are the party with best understanding of Climate Change, we also have the most democratic style of behaving and are the only party who are fully committed to open accountable government.
Join in with the Green Party Campaign!
I want to thank Elizabeth May for being so diligent and articulate. It is due to her unyielding persistence that we are able to voice our values on the Leaders’ Debate this week. I also want to thank the people of Canada who loudly protested the very undemocratic kybosh, organized by Harper and Layton. So tune in to the Leaders Debate, French with translations on Wednesday the first and in English on Thursday evening. It should be on a couple of channels CBC Newsworld and CPAC !
Better yet, have a party and invite all your friends over to watch the Leaders’ Debate. I have been involved in plenty of elections and I tell you the level of involvement in this election is pretty low, across the board. I am hoping that after the leaders’ debate there will be a resurgence of involvement.
Voting for your party is really the least you can do. There is a huge range of activities you can do to help your political stripes widen. We have a small group of dedicated volunteers and we are doing our best to get our message out. The Greens will not out-spend any other party but we could out-volunteer them. After all, it is better to hear about our hopes for the future from your neighbour rather than the television.
Besides volunteering you could donate! When averaging out our donations over our voters we find that we receive 40 cents per voter. There it is, the 40 cent challenge. If you can help us raise this figure we would greatly appreciate it. Remember you get 75% of the first $400 you donate back in the form of a tax break. That means you could give us $400 dollars of clout for an actual outlay of $100. A $50 donation costs you only $12.75.
In the last provincial election I ran in Hillside Victoria for the Green Party. I spent $3000 and got 12% of the vote. The Liberal incumbent, Sheila Orr, spent $170,000 and got 25%. Imagine how I may have done if I had $40,000 to spend sharing our values? Some people still think we are a one issue party, we are not. For many years we have had the most comprehensive platform, which is created in the most democratic manner. Go to http://www.greenparty.ca/ and read our Green Vision document or the reduced brief if you have little time. After you see it is a great direction for our collective future you can make some time to help it have a chance to be.
