Steven Maffioli is running for the Green Party of Canada for the Columbia-Kootenay-Southern Rockies riding in the federal election.
Maffioli was born and raised in Fernie, where he currently works as the manager of Save-On-Foods. His love of nature and the outdoors was cultivated early. His family has a farm that temporarily fosters shelter animals, and he enjoyed hunting, hiking and fishing trips.
Maffioli said environmental policy is front and centre in his campaign. He's willing to take a firm stance to help reach emission reduction targets and continue to advocate for the carbon tax.
"We're put on this planet to be the shepherds of God's creatures and his land and we're not doing a very good job" he said. "We allow corporations to pollute our rivers. Allow mass clear cutting of forests and not replanting trees. It does show that we're not taking as good care of it as we could be."
Maffioli has been a member of the Green Party for a few years now, having campaigned for the party on voter reform in Calgary during the 2019 federal election. He supported ranked ballots and proportional representation within the voting system.
He formerly volunteered with ACORN Canada, a union that advocates for affordable housing for low and moderate income people. He was also involved with various environmental crews when he lived in Calgary, that were responsible for keeping the city streets clean.
He is a yoga teacher with a certificate from the Vancouver School of Healing Arts and he is a member of the Yoga Alliance.
Maffioli said he's focused on making housing more affordable for Canadians, protecting communities from wildfires and floods, and establishing new trade agreements with other countries in light of U.S tariffs.
"It's necessary to protect our Canadian interests and the interests of our youth. I think nothing is more tragic than seeing young people priced out of their hometown," he said.
He said he will advocate for a peace deal for Ukraine and Palestine.
"I found a community and it's kind of important to keep fighting for them, delivering what matters to all of us," he said.
Other candidates in the riding are the incumbent MP Rob Morrison of the Conservative Party, Reggie Goldsbury of the Liberal Party, Kallee Lins of the NDP, Laurie Baird of the People's Party of Canada and independent candidate Jim Wiedrick.
