Victoria City Police Union Hosts All-Council Candidates Virtual Forum

Monday, October 3, 2022, Victoria, BC – The Victoria City Police Union (VCPU) will host an all-council candidate virtual forum with City of Victoria prospective councillors on policing and public safety. This first-time event for the VCPU was designed with the objective of providing candidates the opportunity to share their views and ideas related to public safety and the challenges faced by residents, businesses, and members of the Victoria City Police Union.

“We wanted to provide an opportunity for the public to hear from each candidate on the issues that are impacting our police members and the safety and well-being of the community,” said Tom Stamatakis Jr., VCPU Union Spokesperson. “We are hoping for a great discussion on these important issues.”

The forum will take place on Zoom and will be livestreamed onto YouTube for public viewing. The conversation will be moderated by Richard Zussman, a Victoria-based television reporter for Global BC.

Due to the large number of council candidates, the event will be held over two-nights, with each candidate participating on one-night only. This will allow viewers the opportunity to hear more from each candidate.

Wednesday, October 5, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Candidate Participants:
Ben Isitt
Stephen Hammond
William Scott
Jason Jones
Derek Pinto
Sandy Janzen
Susan Kim
Emmanuel Parenteau
Jeremy Caradonna
Tom Braybrook
Julia Alvarez
Jordan Quitzau
Krista Loughton
Susan Simmons

Thursday, October 6, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Candidate Participants
Tony Yacowar
Matt Dell
Shea Smith
James Harasymow
Gary Beyer
Chris Hanna
Janice Williams
Steve Orcherton
Chris Coleman
Marg Gardiner
Dave Thompson

Council candidates will answer questions related to VicPD’s role in the community, increased call loads related to supportive housing, the challenges of having high volumes of police membership on-leave, and recruitment and retention issues.

The public can tune in on the VCPU YouTube page:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEzbit-cePS3z8pe11l8Jyw

Please note: YouTube will allow a dedicated link to the event when it begins. This link will be tweeted on the VCPU Twitter account at the time of forum. Each recording of the forums will remain on the VCPU YouTube page for future viewing.

About Victoria City Police Union:
The dedicated members of the VCPU have been serving the people of Greater Victoria for more than 160 years. Today, we are 250+ members strong working in the neighbourhoods of Victoria and Esquimalt. We aim to make our community a safe, supportive place where all people can choose to live happy, healthy and productive lives.

Tom Stamatakis Jr., VCPU Spokesperson
Email: media@vcpu.ca