Monday Magazine; November 6th, 2008
The Victoria Labour Council recently put forward its triennial endorsement of candidates running in the upcoming local elections across the South Island municipalities.
The approximately 23,000 members of unions affiliated with the labour council in the capital region will be provided cheat sheets to take to the polls that give them some guidance as to which candidates have expressed an interest in the plight of the working man (and woman).
VLC president Mike Eso says the council executive actively interviewed candidates before giving them the thumbs-up and not all candidates interviewed made the cut. Of course, Eso admits, not all candidates were interested in garnering an endorsement from organized labour.
“I think the list kind of speaks for itself,” he says. “They’re not just all the NDP candidates. We’re endorsing Greens and we’re endorsing people who are non-aligned in terms of partisan politics.”
Eso says those who have received the VLC’s seal of approval are not indebted to the union members that may help put them in office.
“We understand that when people go into office they have to go in with an open mind, and sometimes people are going to make decisions that we might not always agree with 100 percent, but that’s part of the process,” he says of the picks below.
Victoria: Dean Fortin (mayor), Pam Madoff, Lynn Hunter, Sonya Chandler, Philippe Lucas, John Luton
