Perry's Pen

I was walking down Bayview Avenue in Toronto recently when I saw a sign for Jason Stevens who is running for councillor in a By-Election in Ward 15, Don Valley West.

The sign put a smile on my face (no small feat, especially in 2024) and I shared it on social media with a sarcastic comment “Austerity candidate, I guess.” I intended to share a chuckle with friends.

I thought that would be the end of it, but over the last few days, I have been thinking about that sign a lot. And I have actually been communicating with the candidate. Again, no small feat in 2024, when most candidates want nothing to do with voters once “the cheque clears”.

Stevens reminds me of Jello Biafra in some ways

Jello took on ‘the Big Business Corporate Dictatorship’. He was one man, alone, fighting against that “deep dark night”, but he inspired millions around the world. He looked the devil (Dianne Feinstein) in the eye and raged. “this is not America”.

Biafra continues to rage, and we continue to appreciate the fierce defender of America that is Jello Biafra.

Why Jason Stevens’ sign represents Democracy

Democracy, by definition, means by and for the peopleⁱ. Democracy is NOT “by people with enough money to hire marketing and design firms to serve Bay Street and Corporate Interests.

When I first saw the sign, I smiled because I thought “Here is somebody who cares enough to make their voice heard.” I imagined them creating the sign and many others like it, then travelling throughout the ward, pinning them to telephone polls.

It struck me as a labour of love. So many people have a hard time just getting out of bed these days. Worse yet, some people don’t even have beds to get out of! Here is someone, I thought, of meagre financial means, willing to devote their limited time and resources to the greater good.

In short, we are very fortunate to have a candidate who cares enough to campaign on a shoestring budget.

Is Jason Stevens embracing The Butterfly Effect?

The butterfly effect basically says that everything is related, no matter how small. For example, a butterfly flapping it’s wings in China may eventually alter the weather patterns in Toronto.

Stevens probably realizes that his odds of winning the race are non-existent, but by running and engaging they might make the world, at least Ward 15, Don Valley West, a better place. It seems like an example of “the butterfly effect” – the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state.

To see a sign created with human hands, instead of a slick, glossy product made by an expensive downtown marketing firm was life-affirming.

Stevens running for councillor in By-Election in Ward 15, Don Valley West will likely have very little effect on the election. However, being a by-election, the entire city of Toronto will be watching, and his inspired, shoestring campaign will inspire others to become more engaged in politics on a municipal level. More people will vote and pay attention to local politics as a result of him running for office.

Let me contrast Stevens’ DIY signs with failed mayoral candidate Josh Matlow

Josh Matlow ran for Mayor of Toronto in the last election. He lost, and he lost “hugely” as they say in some political circles. That is a shame, too, because I had hoped he would become mayor and be excellent in the position. Instead, we have someone serving as mayor who was elected by saying “We can all afford to pay a little more.”

Instead of a serious person with real plans, ideas, and solutions, we have a 67-year-old “party girl” with a dress for every occasion, begging the provincial and federal governments for more money. *SIGH*

Also, one of the most famous political soundbites of recent years was issued by Michelle Obama, who proclaimed “When they go low, we go high!”

Matlow was telling everyone he was going LOW with his signs.

Again, what on earth were they thinking?!

Big Matlow money, Big Matlow loss

Matlow’s signs cost a lot of money and were created by an expensive consulting firm. Matlow’s signs also put a frown on my face. Some of the things I thought were:

• Matlow was, and is an excellent councillor. How could he run such a flawed campaign for mayor of Toronto?
• How could Matlow have possibly approved this?
• How bad were the signs he said no to?

By contrast, small Stevens money, big Stevens win!

Jason Stevens’ signs say All you need is imagination, drive, some art supplies, and maybe a clean driving record

Stevens’ signs send a different message. It is a positive message of “You DO matter, and you CAN make a difference.” All you need is imagination, drive, and some art supplies!

You don’t need Rogers’ money to run for office in Toronto. You don’t need to be endorsed by a disgraced person who was run out of office for having an extramarital affair to run for office, either.

As far as I know, Jason Stevens has never been charged with driving drunk. Even Justin Trudeau’s late brother, Michel, was charged with pot possession and “beat the rap” because his old man was a former PM.

Speaking of welfare for politicians and Don Valley West, let’s talk about Kathleen Wynne, former MPP for Don Valley West

Yes, THAT Kathleen Wynne, the former Premier of Ontario. The same Kathleen Wynne that the Angus Reid Institute reported to have a job approval rating of 12 per cent, the lowest ever recorded for a Premier of Ontario.

Wynne “represented” the provincial riding of Don Valley West, which has the same geographic boundaries as By-Election in Ward 15, Don Valley West, from 2003-2022.

Kathleen Wynne fleeced Don Valley West. Jason West works for your vote.

Instead of being a decent human being, Kathleen Wynne stayed on as MPP for Don Valley West, collecting over $100K/year for 4 years. Even worse, she bragged to the media about moving out of the city to Alliston.

In effect, Don Valley West had zero representation at Queen’s Park for 4 years because of Kathleen Wynne’s vanity.

Now Kathleen Wynne is suddenly concerned with Don Valley West because Anthony Furey is the frontrunner in the By-Election in Ward 15, Don Valley West. This is probably the first time that Wynne has ever paid attention to Don Valley West.

Don Valley West has seen your work, Kathleen, and we don’t like it.

Oh yeah, The Liberal Party of Ontario is still largely irrelevant. And it deserves to be. Justin Trudeau is doing the same thing to the Liberal Party of Canada as you read, and they deserve it too!

Maybe Jason Stevens is doing something that nobody thought possible for a long time – getting voters somewhat interested in politics again after Kathleen Wynne. Perhaps not engaged, but maybe not so dismissive and nauseous as we have been since Kathleen Wynne was our MPP.

Behind the signs, Jason Stevens is a caring, intelligent person

As I mentioned earlier, Stevens actually engages with voters and constituents. Most of the time, one is lucky to get an auto-reply when bringing a serious concern to the attention of an elected official. Here is something he posted in response to me sharing a picture of his sign on Bayview:

“On the serious side, I think we live in a culture that convolutes leadership or quality with wealth. Well, PM Trudeau has $100 million so certainly he is richer than I am.

Nevertheless, most baristas I’ve met would have over the last nine years probably served Canadians better than Justin.” – Jason Stevens

Police and Thieves and John Tory and Rogers and the World Cup

On a municipal level, Olivia Chow raised property taxes by double digits, and caved in a massive campaign by the Toronto Police, giving them all the money they wanted. On top of this, 1/3 of the $380 million (and growing) budget for the soccer games Toronto will be hosting as part of World Cup 2026 will be going towards “policing and security”.

So, in addition to more money in the budget, Toronto Police will be getting $100+ million to chaperone a couple of soccer games. Nice work if a Cop can get it.

Furthermore, another big beneficiary of the soccer games will be Rogers. The previous Mayor of Toronto, John Tory, made almost $700K from Rogers while mayor while also serving as mayor, and Tory was the one who pushed through the World Cup deal.

Anthony Furey, one of the people Jason Stevens is running against in the By-Election in Ward 15, Don Valley West, wrote the story about the former mayor of Toronto, John Tory, double-dipping that I linked above.

In conclusion, Thank you for running for Councillor, Jason Stevens. Thank you for reading. Now vote!

You will not win, Jason Stevens, but your intestinal fortitude keeps my faith in humanity alive in these difficult times.

I respect and encourage all people running in elections who are doing so for altruistic reasons, and not simply to further entrench themselves in The Corporate machine.

Both John Tory and Kathleen Wynne have come out strongly against frontrunner Anthony Furey. Wynne doing so is the most she has paid attention to Don Valley West ever.

I do not know anything about Mr. Furey, but if he is someone who rattles the cages of the tiny group of inbred people who control Toronto and Canadian politics, that is reason enough for me to vote for him.

Stay thirsty my friends. And Vote wisely.

[i] (^{from Ancient Greek: δημοκρατία, romanized: dēmokratía, dēmos ‘people’ and kratos ‘rule’).}