JOHN HEDICAN
Website:
Political party: How long have you been a member?
First time running as Independent Candidate
Do you live in the riding, and if so, for how long? If not, what is your connection to the riding?
Yes, for 50 years
What is your occupation, and for how long?
Manager of Equipment Rental, 30 years
What do you believe is the biggest issue facing your community and why?
I believe the existing political parties are failing to acknowledge that prohibition is the biggest contributing factor in the loss of over 14,000 deaths in our province and 42,000 in our country since 2016. Supporting the prohibition of drugs means that Organized Crime is benefiting, and we are all losing … losing lives, tax dollars, and forcing our vulnerable into being unhoused, further addiction and poverty.
What actions or efforts have you taken to learn the concerns of your constituents?
Created a federal petition to change the response to the toxic supply of drugs, talked to all the municipal councils in the Comox Valley, presented to all the Rotary clubs and given presentations at schools up and down the island.
What do you want to see improved in British Columbia in four, eight and 20 years?
I am calling for a legal, government regulated system like our existing system for alcohol & marijuana, as it’s the only way to save all users lives. Legalization would provide funding to address the many complex issues related to addiction, mental health and poverty through saved tax dollars, along with the revenues currently being collected by Organized Crime. These revenues could be redirected into regulated government funded detox and recovery facilities backed by research and science, mental health facilities and support, housing for those in poverty and the unhoused, and better education for youth to the harm of alcohol and drugs.
How would you go about addressing contentious issues within your riding?
With truth, facts, compassion and action.
Would you vote against your party and leader if it were best for your constituents?
It’s reprehensible that our political parties are choosing to ignore the realities of all these lost lives and the families and friends who weep for them. Toxic drugs are now the leading cause of death in BC from ages 10 to 59 and it is well past time to have all parties work together to prioritize saving lives and not prioritize votes over saving lives.
I believe the existing political parties are failing to acknowledge the reality of these deaths, the harm and wasted tax dollars of the Federal Drug Policy prohibiting the use of illicit drugs.
Why do you think you are qualified to do this job?
Tragically, my wife and I lost our oldest son Ryan at the age of 26 in 2017 and our nephew Justin at the age of 38 in 2019 to toxic drugs. Both Ryan and Justin, along with 42,000 people, would be alive today if their substance of choice was alcohol, as they would have had access to a safe legalized and regulated supply.
Why are you running – what’s your motivation?
I do not support people dying a preventable death nor do I support Organized Crime and the wasting of tax dollars. I do support a legalization policy that would acknowledge and actively address the reality that drugs, like alcohol, have and always will be part of life. The reality of supporting the prohibition of drugs is that all parties are okay with people dying a preventable death, and Organized Crime thanks them for their continued support.
ABOUT COURTENAY-COMOX
Courtenay-Comox was the tightest race in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ in 2017, with New Democrat newcomer Ronna-Rae Leonard winning by just 189 votes over the Liberal candidate. It was a different story in 2020, when she took about 51 per cent of the vote.
Leonard faces four other candidates — including two Independents — as she vies for a third term.
Entrepreneur Brennan Day, who ran for the Liberals in 2020, netting about 30 per cent of votes cast, is running for the Conservatives this time around. Arzeena Hamir, a former Comox Valley Regional District director, is the Green candidate.
They’re joined by Independent candidates John Hedican, an equipment rental manager, and Devin Howell, an electrician.
THE CANDIDATES IN COURTENAY-COMOX
The candidates this election are:
- Conservative Brennan Day
- Green candidate Arzeena Hamir
- Independent John Hedican
- Independent Devin Howell
- New Democrat Ronna-Rae Leonard
See the full list of Vancouver Island candidates here. We are posting the candidate questionnaires riding by riding.
ABOUT THE PROFILES
We asked readers what they wanted to ask candidates and used those answers to help shape our election coverage, including candidate questionnaires.
The answers are presented as submitted by the candidates, edited only for length if they exceeded the word limit they were given. We did not correct grammar, spelling or typos.
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