In a video announcement on November 29th, Victoria councillor Stephen Andrews announced his intentions that he will run for city mayor in the October 2022 election.
“I promise to listen to all of the citizens of Victoria and make decisions based on the greater good, not just on special interests” said Andrew.
“I also promise to be transparent so you’ll know where I stand and where I intend it to go.”
In his address, Andrew also spoke on residents’ diminishing trust in city hall.
“The pandemic may have made it a little difficult to be a place to visit recently, but it is the government itself that has made it hard for the people to be heard”
“After being given broad support in all areas from groups across Victoria, I have been encouraged to seek the mayor’s job,” said Andrew.
“It takes a lot of time and effort to put together a successful mayoral campaign, so this gives us enough time to marshal our resources and prepare for what I believe to be the most important election in Victoria in years.”
It is Andrew’s fourth election in Victoria and his second time running for mayor. He previously came in fourth behind current Mayor Lisa Helps in 2014.
He was elected to the city council in 2020.
In October, after two terms and eight years in office, current Mayor Lisa Helps announced she would not seek re-election in 2022.
See more: Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps announces she will not seek re-election in 2022
Helps was the subject of many hot topics, including overseeing the removal of the city’s statue of John A. Macdonald from the front of Victoria City Hall, which took place three days after the city council voted for it on August 8, 2018.
The decision was taken after one year of consultation and the support of the city family.
As of this publication, no other candidates have announced if they would run for mayor of Victoria. Marianne Alto has been mentioned as a possibility.
