It has been a busy week for former Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart, which included the announcement of a new job and a brand new book, but the reaction to the book has been quite negative.
The book is called Decrim: How We Decriminalized Drugs in British Columbia.
The subtitle reads, “Decriminalization marks a fundamental rethinking of drug policy that favours healthcare over handcuffs.”
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The book is about Stewart’s time in power between 2018 and 2022. According to the publisher’s website, the book “recounts historic progress in addressing this crisis.”
“Kennedy Stewart has written Decrim to tell the story of how this remarkable policy change came about and the enormous challenges faced by those who fought for it—including its contribution to him losing his bid for mayoral re-election.”
Stewart tweeted his book announcement on Monday, January 16. As of Tuesday morning, the tweet has garnered nearly 60,000 views, 15 likes, 44 retweets, and 60 comments.
Check out my new book too, coming soon to a bookstore near you (or you can always pre-order a copy!) https://t.co/rF25opYOqn pic.twitter.com/PTTXLsQ8Mr
— Kennedy Stewart (@kennedystewart) January 16, 2023
The replies to the tweet ranged from simple reactions like “gross” to harsher condemnations like one response that read, “this is 100% shameful.”
Steve Saretsky, a local realtor and investor, tweeted, “Is this for real?”
One person responded with several middle finger emojis.
🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻
— Heather Anne™ (@Heatheranner) January 17, 2023
One of the main concerns from critics is the idea that the former mayor’s book is profiting from an ongoing toxic drug emergency in the province.
I’ve got a new book coming out. It’s about a recent politician who cared more about his legacy (sic) and flaunting his ‘power’ (sic) than doing what was right for a city and society moving forward.
— JtotheRuss (@JtotheRuss) January 16, 2023
Others are pointing out that things didn’t necessarily get dramatically better while Stewart was in power as Vancouver’s mayor.
“The disgraced former Mayor of Vancouver is publishing a book on how he helped create a city riddled with drugs and where 40 people are responsible for 6,300 crimes in 2021 alone. All this after he was absolutely demolished by the voters for promoting these insane ideas,” tweeted free speech advocate Angelo Isidorou.
A couple of Twitter users pointed out that all sides of the political spectrum have been equally critical of the book.
Left Centre Right
🤝
Roasting this awful idea pic.twitter.com/lSnYzHcrr2— AJ ♡ 🇧🇦🇲🇪 (@SarcasticallyAJ) January 17, 2023
Tough to get everyone on the left, centre, and right to hate you, but Kennedy pulled it off. Great work! https://t.co/VBVn547lJj
— Shawn Miller (@DailyShawn) January 17, 2023
the story of decrim is not yours to tell. It belongs to moms who lost their kids, ppl who risk arrest, ridiculed & laughed out of their profession.
you are a footnote. https://t.co/ZYTVYt6ECE
— The Network Hub (@thenetworkhub) January 16, 2023
Stewart’s book comes out sometime this year.
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