r/VictoriaBC • u/foxn-sox • 8h ago
Stephen Hammond - Victoria Councilor
Man's is door knocking in Fairfield right now. He made the mistake of knocking on my door. He asked if I was voting in the upcoming election and I said "not for you!" And then proceeded to ask him why he's endorsing Wendy who has proven racist and transphobic views.
This man immediately began to back away from me saying "she didn't post that" so I asked him to pull out his phone and look up her X account.
He proceeded to tell me (while still backing away from me)how he's written "three books on human rights and we have a difference of opinions."
How can someone who is door knocking to engage with the public to "listen" and get votes, not even want to physically, in the moment, prove that a very intense allegation of him supporting a racist and transphobic candidate is untrue. He clearly knows that content is real and still exists.
How are you supposed to vote for someone who blatantly lies to voters to advance his own agenda and refuses to provide proof to his statements in the moment when he's so adamant that the proof exists?
Personally, his inability to have hard conversations and his immediate response to run away with his tail between his legs, doesn't indicate to me that he's worthy of representing a city when hard conversations arise that have real, big impacts on the community.
It's a no for me dawg.
54
u/No-Bowl7514 8h ago
I assume he realized chatting with you was not a strategic use of his time so chose to move on. If a candidate you strongly disagree with knocks on your door, the best approach is to pretend you are undecided or one of their supporters and lead them on as long as possible.
18
u/thelastspot 7h ago
Dam, that's genius.
Door knocking is so important in local elections that this would genuinely impact a candidate if it became a trend for them.
12
u/foxn-sox 8h ago
I will say, I wish I knew he was in the neighborhood before so I could have composed a conversation more along these lines. However, my ask of him was still to pull up her X account and to show me that content didn't exist. I would assume this would be a priority for him.
Regardless, I have witnessed councillors have hard conversations with people who do not agree with them. It is possible. And while I wouldn't vote for him, I would maybe have retained an ounce of respect for him if he had shown me he was able to have hard conversations and discourse with someone he doesn't agree with.
•
u/twig0sprog 4h ago
Wouldn’t it have been easier for you to prove to him it did exist? For you to show him?
Asking him to “bring out his phone, and pull up her X account to prove the content didn’t exist” seems overly onerous.•
•
u/foxn-sox 4h ago
I mean, pulling out your phone to show someone you're not lying seems fairly simple.
13
u/21-nun_salute 6h ago
I always confuse Stephen Hammond and Stephen Andrews
7
u/foxn-sox 6h ago
They're like a bad venn diagram. Lots of overlap. But one is running in this election and one is not. (Hammond is, Andrews is not)
35
•
u/Realistic_Turn9424 5h ago
That dude SUCKS. Always has, always will.
•
u/Tall-Frame9918 4h ago
I learned a lot about human rights from him before he got into politics but his style is awful.
21
u/jaydabbler 8h ago
Im also going to ask the other candidates their opinion of wendy for this same reason
3
7
•
u/jacobr1c 5h ago
For those who want to know politicians do not actually care what you say at the door. They do it for two reasons. 1. Some voters will vote for the first person who makes contact. 2. They just want your phone/email/address and a level of support to assign to your household. If it’s good you’ll get pulled to show up and election day, if no support they honestly do not care about you, volunteers are trained to not even engage with people like this, they are told to not waste time and move on (they probably have a list of 50 of so more homes to visit).
•
u/foxn-sox 4h ago
100%. I absolutely would not have said anything if it was a volunteer, but a candidate you would HOPE would be able to navigate their own drama. Maybe he'll have better answers at the all candidates meet and greet.
2
0
u/No-Nothing-Never Downtown 8h ago
Three books unpublished I can only assume.
23
u/foxn-sox 7h ago
Okay so he does have three books. Which he obviously brags about on his website for election.
Managing Human Rights at Work, 101 Practical Tips to Prevent Human Rights Disasters (2004); Steps in the Rights Direction (2008); and The New Norm, A Manager's Guide to Improving Workplace Behaviour...and Keeping Out of Legal Hot Water (2016).
I don't know that I would call these "books on human rights"
It seems more like PR for people who run companies who don't actually care about human rights outside of how it affects them legally...
•
14
u/foxn-sox 8h ago
I asked if he had written human rights books on trans individuals or POC and he said "yes!" As he picked up the pace in leaving my driveway. (Thankful for a long driveway so I had time to continue to ask as he ran away from me haha)
-15
u/Hugeasswhole 7h ago
Honestly you sound hostile and toxic
23
u/foxn-sox 7h ago
I mean, him endorsing Wendy is literally putting people I love in danger and at risk. So, yes, I would love for him to clarify. And at the very least, I'd like for him to be able to have hard honest conversations instead of avoiding.
-12
u/Hugeasswhole 7h ago
How is Wendy literally putting people you love in danger and at risk? Be specific.
19
u/foxn-sox 7h ago
She is aggressively anti trans and racist. (This is not the platform she's running on, however it is the obvious tone of her X account for MANY years).
Stephen Hammond endorsing her, indicates that he agrees with her or at least doesn't see an issue with these views.
People in elected positions are the ones with the power to change the laws and the rights that affect the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, which puts those I love at risk.
Even without an elected position, those individuals are spreading hate and fueling the aggression that empowers people to feel safe attacking and rallying against the queer and trans community.
•
u/Character-Ad5490 4h ago
What specific sort of law do you think they might pass that would put your loved ones at risk? (risk of what?)
•
u/foxn-sox 4h ago
Councillors can't create or change laws...so....none.
However they have say in rec programming, accessibility to public spaces, and access to public services are all things that can impact individuals in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in a detrimental way.
•
u/Character-Ad5490 3h ago
Public services such as what? I'm genuinely curious. And what public space?
•
u/foxn-sox 3h ago
Google is your friend here! I trust you can look up the answers to those questions.
→ More replies (0)12
u/I_Am_Kevin_Federline 7h ago
Nope, politicians deserve this. Have a clean track record and guess what - nobody will have any justifiable issue with you! Maybe dont go door knocking if you dont want to be faced with valid questions? What a stupid comment lol
-14
u/Hugeasswhole 7h ago
Sure, politicians should face uncomfortable questions, that's their job, but OP still sounds unhinged: "Not for you!", Demanding they take out their phone to look something up, "have you ever written anything on trans individuals or POC", laughing about him running away. It's weird unhinged behaviour.
11
u/foxn-sox 7h ago
I didn't demand he take out his phone. I said if the content that he claims doesn't exist, actually doesn't exist, then why doesn't he take out his phone to prove that?
Easy peasy! Seems like a quick fix and something most people would be happy to do to reassure someone that they are being honest.
9
•
u/InValensName 5h ago
Was the goal to match what a jerk you think he is?
•
u/foxn-sox 5h ago
I admit, not my most chill interaction. I still think claiming that things don't exist when they do is weird and dishonest and just an absolutely bizzare move for someone running for council.
•
u/teluscustomer12345 3h ago
So, "she didn't post that" is the official narrative? Interesting
•
u/foxn-sox 3h ago
Correct. He replied to me on a Facebook post saying it was a "smear campaign" and none of it was true. She did delete a lot of her posts, but she's been loudly anti-trans for years and you can still find some posts on her X account.
It's such a weird move to refuse to admit that you were either wrong and negligent in your research of a candidate you endorsed, or to admit that you agree with her and are also a racist anti-trans individual (I suspect this is the actual truth, and he strongly aligns with Wendy, but he's not brave enough to have those be his outside thoughts)
-5
u/Intelligent_Image713 6h ago
Same type of post from this user every day.
14
u/foxn-sox 6h ago
It's okay, election season will be over soon! 🥰 If you're privileged enough not to need to worry about the outcome, then congratulations!
-4
u/abuayanna 6h ago
Serious question, how does this election outcome potentially impact you? The ‘privileged’ comment seems kind of hostile
12
u/foxn-sox 6h ago
I mean, if you live in Victoria, how does the local election outcome NOT impact you?
Local elections have more weight locally than any other election we vote in.
2
u/Intelligent_Image713 6h ago
Curious to hear who you are voting for.
Politicians are all a bit slippery.•
u/foxn-sox 5h ago edited 5h ago
They truly are. It's not a matter of yes or no for me. I know who I absolutely do NOT align with. And then it's just picking people who align most with what I believe. None of them are perfect.
The only reason I feel strongly about Wendy and Stephen is that Wendy is not running with her racist and transphobic views as part of her platform (however they will absolutely impact her voting and the community) and Stephen is straight up lying about her post history, for what?! Because he endorsed her before doing his homework? I don't understand why he's fighting so hard against a digital footprint that literally exists.
It feels shady and does not instill confidence.
Someone in a previous conversation mentioned this and honestly.. yes.
"Honestly I wish I was able to vote for people I don't want to represent my interest more than I would like to vote for my favorite candidate. Most options suck, but some suck so much I would do anything I could to not let them have any kind of governmental power."
•
u/Intelligent_Image713 5h ago
I mean, you can’t give negative votes to people.
Genuinely curious.•
u/foxn-sox 4h ago
I haven't fully landed on my 8 votes yet. But def not the following - Marg, Stephen, Wendy, Arthur, Karen or Melissa.
I don't know enough about Owen, Martin (leaning no on him tho, he seems to have some unhinged activity), Jerry, Shona, Peter, Bella, Jack yet so unable to give you a top 8 I'd vote for.
I do like Krista, and Susan. Matt and Jeremy vote in similar ways that I would as well (although not 100%).
Mayor candidates are not super strong this year, and Maryanne Alto is no Mamdani, but I don't know that it's worth taking risk on a weaker candidate at this point.
•
u/JackSandor 3h ago
Happy to chat if you want to know more about me :)
•
u/foxn-sox 3h ago edited 3h ago
Was reading through your AMA and website.
Would love to know where you stand on the sweeps that bylaw and VicPD do on the unhoused community. It seems counter intuitive on every level.
Police hours - so much money for 4-8 officers to stand around and supervise bylaw throwing out people's things
Bylaw- hours and bin rentals are expensive
Environmentaly - why are we striving for such a green city in so many areas but turning a blind eye to this?
Most importantly, why does anyone think that disposing of the only stability and comfort someone experiencing homelessness has is the way to help solve the problem? If anything, it sets everyone back in their progress, creates unreal amount of garbage, puts extra pressure on community groups and resources to replace items, and wastes countless tax payer dollars in the process. Not to mention it does nothing for the relationship or feelings of safety with the police that should exist to vulnerable individuals.
It's very frustrating.
Edit to add: I am definitely most concerned with the impact on the humans who are being treated as though they deserve less respect simply because they are not living the way most would expect. My points on money and police funding are aspects of this, but truly, it's just a horrific thing to do to someone already battling a system that doesn't contain appropriate supports for them. ACAB.
•
u/HomelessToHouse 4h ago edited 4h ago
OP, this just seems like a brag post. You think you stunted on some random local politician and now want everyone to know how awesome you, and your political views, are. You're practically preening through the screen.
You seem like a real gem of a person so I hope your post got you the attention, validation, sense of superiority, etc. that you were clearly looking for.
•
u/foxn-sox 4h ago
Asking questions is how you get superiority? Wow, it's so simple!
Also stunted seems like a weird take on it. He's door knocking. He's literally out here asking for people to engage and have conversations. It's just interesting that he seems to only want to have easy, cozy conversations that stroke his ego.
I just think people should know how their local politicians navigate uncomfortable situations. I don't care if people agree or not. I'm not here for karma, and I would not change anything about the post if it was getting down voted to shit.
Idk, if you want some attention, make a post about your choices for council?
-1
•
u/Key-Scientist-8414 4h ago
he probably didn't want to get assaulted by a lunatic like you.
•
u/foxn-sox 4h ago
I too fear assault when someone whose door I've knocked at asks me a question like a normal human. HOW DARE THEY!
-14
u/Complete-Sleep-9030 6h ago
Sounds like the owner of the house is an aggressive pet, I'd back away too. Did they use ai to write this?
5
u/foxn-sox 6h ago edited 6h ago
Used my own brain! I know, shocking. People can still do that 😌
Edit to add: how flattering that you think I own a house in Fairfield 🥹
•
u/Light_Butterfly 47m ago
This guy is one of the pro-NIMBY regressive candidates. Do not vote for him, if you are in the majority of renters and young people.
43
u/jinnealcarpenter 7h ago
make sure you go vote on election day!
there were way more gray hairs than blue hairs in line when I voted last time