Monday September 11, 2023 | VICTORIA, BC [Updated 2:20 pm – September 12, 2023 – CLICK HERE FOR ANNOUNCEMENT COVERAGE]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends | POLITICS NEWS SECTION
The BC Greens will hold a candidacy announcement in Saanich tomorrow, for Ned Taylor who at 11 am will announce his plans for his MLA campaign.
Taylor, age 24, will be accompanied by BC Greens Leader Sonia Furstenau (Cowichan Valley) and Deputy Leader Dr Lisa Gunderson (candidate for Oak Bay – Gordon Head).
Saanich-South is currently held by NDP MLA Lana Popham, who currently serves as the
Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport.
About Ned Taylor:
Ned Taylor was born and raised in Saanich. Throughout his youth and young adult life he has been heavily involved in the community. While attending Reynolds Secondary, he found time outside of school hours to volunteer with the BC Green Party, fundraise for Cops for Cancer, and advocate for issues in BC through numerous Change.org petitions. During this time, Ned was recognized for these contributions by receiving a Civic Engagement Scholarship and Volunteer Service Award.
Shortly after graduating high school, Taylor ran for Saanich Council in a by-election in 2017 that was held in 2017 then got more involved by joining multiple Saanich Advisory Committees and the Board for his local Community Association.
In 2018 he received the third highest votes out of an 18-candidate field and became the youngest ever Saanich Councillor and CRD Director. As an elected official, he was a known champion for issues such as climate change, road safety, housing, and youth representation.
He chaired the Saanich Parks Committee and Vice-Chaired the CRD Environment Committee but chose in 2022 to not run again in municipal politics. He has since joined the Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors.
Rolling out the candidates:
Last week Furstenau introduced Dr Sanjiv Gandhi as a high-profile candidate in Vancouver-Renfrew (as the riding will be called for the 2024 provincial election; currently it is still Vancouver-Kingsway where BC Health Minister Adrian Dix is the MLA).
This past summer Furstenau was supportive of Camille Currie who ran in the Langford-Juan de Fuca by-election.
Youth component:
If Taylor were to win in Saanich South in 2024, as it presently stands that would make him the youngest MLA in the BC Legislative Assembly.
Currently Ravi Parmar, MLA (Langford-Juan de Fuca) is the youngest MLA, elected at age 28. Before that, Brittny Anderson (Nelson-Creston) was the youngest MLA.
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