Former Vancouver mayor Kennedy Stewart and his Forward Together team are defending against allegations they didn’t pay the bills during their failed election bid last fall.
To date, two businesses have accused Forward Together of not ponying up for services rendered: TownRent, which rented furniture to the campaign, and Point Blank Creative Inc., which provided a number of media relations services.
Last month, Point Blank filed a civil claim against Forward Together in B.C. Supreme Court. Stewart’s team filed its response last week, stating it “neither refused nor neglected to make any payment” related to what it claims is now the outstanding bill.
“We’re all paid up,” Stewart said briefly before entering his Vancouver residence on Monday morning. He declined to answer other questions.
An email sent to Forward Together subscribers on Sunday, however, appears to counter Stewart’s claim there is no outstanding debt. Global News has reached out to Point Blank, TownRent, Elections BC, and Stewart’s lawyers for comment on this story.
In April, Point Blank claimed it is owed $59,000 on invoices filed to Forward Together in September and October 2022. In the notice of claim, the company said it attempted to deposit four cheques provided by Forward Together, but each one bounced due to “non-sufficient funds.”
Point Blank said Forward Together didn’t pay the bill despite multiple demands, and was therefore “unjustly enriched by receiving the Services and Additional Work without paying for their value.”
Forward Together denied that allegation in its May 8 response. Of the “dishonoured” payments, it said it told Point Blank at the end of October that the post-dated cheques couldn’t be cashed at the time.
“Forward Together proposed a payment plan. Point Blank rejected the proposal and proceeded to deposit the cheques,” it wrote.
In February, Forward Together said it proposed a new payment plan to Point Blank, and sent $2,006 in accordance with that plan on March 15, leaving the outstanding balance as $56,994.
It is now opposing Point Blank’s attempt to obtain a judgment for $59,000 in addition to legal costs, and said it will “continue making payments in accordance with the February 2023 Payment Plan.”
Both Point Blank and Forward Together agree, they signed a contract in early September committing the campaign to pay a lump sum of $84,000, including $15,000 for paid media planning and management, $65,000 for advertising spending including a 10 per cent commission, $4,000 for taxes, and an hourly charge for any extra services performed.
When it filed its notice of claim, however, Point Blank said Forward Together had only paid $50,000 of the initial $84,000 owed in September, and none of the additional $25,000 owed for additional work in October — which Forward Together now rejects. The contract also established an interest rate of 19.5 per cent per annum, with payment due immediately upon receipt of an invoice, Point Blank said.
Forward Together’s response took “no position” on the company’s request to have court-ordered interest, or 19.5 per cent per annum, awarded through the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, a Sunday email to Forward Together’s subscribers appears to confirm the campaign has outstanding bills, counter to what Stewart told Global News on Monday.
“While it is true we have a debt from the campaign, we have already fully paid most of the service providers to whom we owed small amounts and have payment plans in place to manage the remainder,” reads the email signed off by Stewart.
“It’s not unusual for left-of-centre parties to carry some post-election debt, especially when we are up against deep-pocketed right-wing parties like ABC, which spent twice as much as Forward Together – over $2 million – in the 2022 election.”
The email thanks members of the public who saw media coverage of the owed expenses and donated on the Forward Together website. It also solicited more donations to help pay off the debt.
The election held on Oct. 15, ushered ABC Vancouver’s Ken Sim into the mayor’s seat.
In March, TownRent owner Tim Malito claimed Stewart and Forward Together had stiffed him on a bill for furniture rented during the campaign. After Stewart lost, Malito said he sent Stewart’s campaign an invoice for $2,888.48 and was promised a cheque in 30 days.
That cheque never came, despite an extension, Malito previously told Global News.
Malito further said he received a “debt management” proposal from Stewart’s campaign manager for the fall election in February. It suggested Forward Together make “three payments in 2023 amounting to 10 per cent of the total for the outstanding invoices for work pre-Oct. 15, 2022 you are owed,” he claimed.
The memo said that if Forward Together finds its “revenue picture” improved sufficiently this year, “we will make every attempt to exceed the 10 per cent payment to your company in 2023.”
Neither Stewart nor the campaigner manager responded to a request for comment on that story, reported on March 22.
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