Tuesday September 10, 2024 | VICTORIA, BC
Political analysis by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
The BC Greens are unlikely to form government in the October 2024 provincial election.
But their impact with socioeconomic ideas and new directions for BC could turn more voters their way in this election cycle.
Today at a Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce breakfast, BC Green Leader Sonia Furnstenau opened her remarks to the business people there with saying the Greens want to “rewrite some of the tired stories that don’t make a lot of sense anymore”.
“We can get there,” said Furstenau about creating a kinder, more collaborative and more cooperative economy and society.
A big part of that for the BC Greens is a “robust safety net” to help catch people who “fall on hard times”.
She commended the business sector for what they do — delivering products, experiences and services in ways that employee people. She high-fives any innovative ways in which that is being done.
The role of government is to provide health care, education, transit and social housing, said Furstenau.
Furstenau stuck to business-related issues and did not bring up any specifics about BC Green platform ideas on improving health-care or emphasizing digital literacy in schools.
Who was there:
The 30-some folks who attended her talk fell short of the 100+ audience size that showed up for speeches in June by BC United Party Leader Kevin Falcon and Conservative Party of BC Leader John Rustad.
Chamber organizers see the low turnout for today’s event as possibly about most of the Chamber membership having more interest in the two parties ‘that can form government’. But today’s crowd was attentive to BC Green ideas.
Attending with Furstenau today (herself a candidate in Victoria-Beacon Hill up against BC NDP cabinet minister Grace Lore) were also three other BC Green candidates: BC Green Deputy Leader Dr Lisa Gunderson (Oak Bay-Gordon Head), Erin Cassels (Langford-Highlands), and Christina Winter (Victoria-Swan Lake).
Today’s Chamber Q&A after Furstenau’s speech was led by Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce CEO Bruce Williams.
Moving forward in BC:
Furstenau criticized the BC Conservatives campaign for insisting on a back-to-the-old-days natural resource economy. And she characterized the current BC economy under the NDP as driven by tourism and services.
She says the future emerging economy should highlight the new-energy sector as well as focusing on housing, food security and water security.
Naturally, safety in communities is a concern for everyone. The BC Greens aim to approach this by addressing the root causes, not through an emphasis on policing. That differs a great deal from the BC Conservatives approach.
Climate change and people:
“Climate change has created a new kind of insecurity,” said Furstenau. It damages infrastructure and contributes to pushing up inflation (e.g. through the impact of ever-increasing insurance rates). The Greens emphasize looking at science and data when it comes to addressing the impacts of climate change.
“We need to invest in the people of BC,” says Furstenau, which is not much different than the BC NDP have been saying in government over the past seven years. The BC NDP have taken an affordability-support approach which has been greatly welcomed by people who struggle to get by. Furstenau says the BC Greens want to look at boosting jobs and the economy in ways that “enrich communities”.
“The government is supposed to do things that make sense,” said Furstenau today, referring to how the BC NDP have relied on the private sector to build housing which does not address the housing affordability issue.
Furstenau pushed the idea of free transit for everyone in BC, and getting away from building more mega-highway structures.
She sees removal of the “gatekeeping and protectionist mentality” when it comes to allowing more internationally-trained professionals to work in their areas of expertise in BC. She says that international students should not be used as a high-priced revenue source for post-secondary institutions.
Hoping for a mixed result on October 19:
As for voting in the BC Election on October 19, Furstenau says “I hope the people of BC don’t give absolute power to anybody” and that “BC loses when we have majority governments”.
She says that “realistically” the BC Greens expect to elect seven candidates in the upcoming provincial election. She commends the few independent candidates who are running and hopes some of them win. Together with BC Greens the independents could bring a variety of voices to the BC Legislature, said Furstenau today.
===== RELATED:
- Primary health-care requires community-based approach say BC Greens (September 9, 2024)
- Digital Literacy Secretariat would be set up by BC Greens (September 3, 2024)
- BC Conservatives claim center-right lane in fall election race (August 28, 2024)
- BC election ‘already in the history books’, says Rustad (June 19, 2024)
- “British Columbians are mainstream not extreme,” says BC United Leader Kevin Falcon (June 6, 2024)
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