Tuesday September 12, 2023 | SAANICH, BC [Updated 3:17 pm]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends | POLITICS NEWS SECTION
The BC Greens have nabbed a young high-profile community-oriented fellow to run as their MLA candidate in Saanich South in the next provincial election.
Ned Taylor was accompanied by BC Greens Leader Sonia Furstenau (Cowichan Valley) and Deputy Leader Dr Lisa Gunderson (candidate for Oak Bay – Gordon Head) for the outdoor announcement at Beckwith Park in the north Quadra area.
Furstenau calls Taylor “an incredibly inspiring individual” who she says has “worked tirelessly from a very young age to improves the lives of his community in Saanich”.
Taylor said on X (Twitter) afterward: “Today was a dream come true.”
Youth factor:
“Young people are the driving force of our society and Ned carries a fresh perspective, fearless energy, and innovative ideas that can share the future of our province. We are lucky to have him on board as we gear up for the next general election,” said Furstenau, a teacher by career profession.
Saanich factor:
Taylor grew up in Saanich, where he says he has “dedicated his career to the well-being of my community here”.
He says “we need a government who follows through with their campaign promises and works collaboratively to put people before politics”, he said in a news release today.
Saanich South is a large suburban riding within Greater Victoria. The population base is expected to be about 59,226 in 2024 (new electoral area boundaries will see a shift of about 5,000 from Saanich North and the Islands over to Saanich South).
Saanich-South is currently held by NDP MLA Lana Popham, who currently serves as the
Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. Popham was elected in 2009, and re-elected in 2013, 2017, and 2020.
Key issues:
Taylor says that people his age consider home ownership to be beyond their reach. He hopes to see better provincial leadership around environment and climate change. He says that BC’s health care system is ‘failing’.
The Ned Taylor BC Green campaign website has been launched.
About Ned Taylor:
Ned Taylor was born and raised in Saanich. 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 District of 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.
The BC Greens point out that the District of Saanich made “huge investments in climate and transportation initiatives” as a result of Ned Taylor’s leadership on the District of Saanich council.
He chaired the Saanich Parks Committee and Vice-Chaired the CRD Environment Committee but chose in 2022 to not run again in municipal politics. After his municipal stint he 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.
===== RELATED:
BC Greens to launch Ned Taylor as MLA candidate in Saanich South (September 11, 2023)
Three provincial electoral areas for west shore (April 18, 2023)
Decoupling of Langford and Sooke in proposed new BC electoral boundaries (November 22, 2022)
===== ABOUT ISLAND SOCIAL TRENDS:
We report on socioeconomic and political news with an eye to how it impacts individuals, families, businesses and communities. Editor and publisher: Mary P Brooke.