Wednesday November 8, 2023 | VICTORIA, BC [Updated November 9, 2023 at 6:35 pm]
Political analysis by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends | POLITICAL NEWS SECTION
Also see Editorial: Getting it right for BC Green candidates in 2024
“Today, I was made aware of Dr. Sanjiv Gandhi, deputy leader, liking a tweet with an inappropriate comparison between our provincial health officer and Mengele. I find this unacceptable and I have removed Dr. Gandhi as deputy leader and accepted his resignation as a candidate,” said BC Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau in social media this evening, November 8.
This leaves the BC Greens without the high-profile candidate. Gandhi was set to run against BC Health Minister Adrian Dix in the riding of Vancouver-Renfrew as the riding will be called for the October 2024 provincial election (presently Vancouver-Kingsway).
“I have asked for BC’s Provincial Health Officer to be removed, but this comparison — and any trivialization of Nazism and the holocaust — is beyond the pale. Thank you Sonia, for doing the right thing and asking for a resignation,” said BC Conservative House Leader Bruce Banman this evening in social media.
Gandhi is a former surgeon who was brought into the BC Greens during the pandemic years to help boost what Furstenau and team thought was good medical expertise on their side. Gandhi became a deputy leader of the party in January of this year. Gandhi recently had said he felt that Furstenau was not like most politicians, which he found encouraging.
Statement from Green Party Leader:
As of 9 pm Wednesday evening, the BC Greens X (Twitter) profile still had a photo that included Gandhi. As of 10:30 pm, no official BC Green Party statement has yet been released. The party leader made a statement at noon at her office at the Legislature:
UPDATE Noon November 9, 2023 – Statement from Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau: “As you know, last night I accepted Dr Gandhi’s resignation as deputy leader and candidate for Vancouver-Renfrew. Dr Gandhi recognized the gravity of the situation and offered his resignation. He has issued his own statement taking accountability for his actions, which is the right thing to do. The party continues to condemn any hateful rhetoric including minimization of the Holocaust.”
Statement from Gandhi:
“We can be passionate and aggressive in criticizing the government, but personal attacks are categorically wrong, as was my misplaced “like”,” said Dr Gandhi in a post on X (Twitter) on November 9.
He said he feels his continued participation with the party would have been a distraction, as one of the other reasons why he said he resigned.
He called X (Twitter) a “viper pit of vitriol”, though others in the public realm seem to manage it well enough.
Political analysis:
This whole scenario may reveal the struggle of the third party to find suitable candidates. Generally, the BC Greens seek out or accept candidates who have become public through protest or organization around a singular issue. By default, they are not attracting candidates who are suited for upward mobility in the two major parties (NDP and BC United).
In this case with Gandhi, there was obviously some festering anger from a medical perspective. A skilled and experienced politician would not have made the mistake that he did yesterday. Furstenau herself was previously a teacher, and while critically sharp with her political attacks in the Legislative Assembly (arguably shaping the direction of some provincial policy) she takes a more gentle approach toward her daily dealings in politics. That she did not see the trouble coming with Gandhi is an oversight that a career politician may not have missed (or even allowed room for in the first place).
When former BC Green leader Andrew Weaver left the party at the end of 2019 (sitting as an independent in January 2020), that left the Greens open to the machinations of the NDP machine; then Premier John Horgan swept in with a snap election in 2020 and considerably diminished Green influence in the legislation by achieving an NDP majority. In 2017, Horgan and Weaver had established a progressive left in BC politics by conjoining through a Supply and Confidence Agreement; with Weaver gone, Horgan saw his way to NDP majority.
That NDP majority is a tall brick wall for the BC Greens in the legislative process. Furstenau and BC Green House Leader Adam Olsen make valiant efforts and introduce valid directions for new policy. They will need tough seasoned community leaders as candidates for the October 2024 election.
British Columbians are actually quite fortunate to have the thoughtfulness and caring approach of Furstenau and Olsen in the legislative chamber; their remarks in statements and Question Period clearly humanize things with real insights about real situations for people in everyday situations.
If the BC Greens hope to expand on that impact, they will have to somehow sweeten the pot to attract the right sort of candidates to their team. The legislative structures (place and processes) are a tough game entwined with rules and tradition. That any third party exists in that system is a victory in itself.
Comment from Weaver:
The day after Gandhi’s resignation, former BC Green Party leader Andrew Weaver posted a comment in social media, clearly still bitter and critical of the party he once led — that he joined so he could make a difference, something the BC Greens are still trying to do.
“Deputy Leaders of BC Greens are appointed by the Leader. There’s no independent vetting. Accountability for appointments fall squarely on the leader. I’m shocked that the membership isn’t outraged watching the party spiral into irrelevance as the party chases conspiracies,” said Weaver on X (Twitter) on November 9, 2023.
In TV news coverage this evening, Weaver continued on to say that he feels the BC Greens have become irrelevant in BC politics, dealing with fringe issues. If he had at one time believed in the BC Greens, it seems rather undignified for him to be trashing them now.
However, one municipal councillor in Colwood says he feels the BC Greens have dramatically changed direction: “Who they were (or tried to be) vs. what they are now is a notable change. The Venn diagram of the far right and the far left is interesting in its shock value. Anti-vax and antisemitic. That’s today’s @BCGreens.”
===== RELATED:
- Getting it right for BC Green candidates in 2024 (November 9, 2023)
- BC Greens ‘small but mighty’ impact in BC Legislative Assembly (October 11, 2023)
- BC Greens introduce Dr Gandhi in the upcoming Vancouver-Renfrew (September 7, 2023)
- Dr Sanjiv Gandhi to run as BC Green MLA candidate (September 6, 2023)