Wednesday October 11, 2023 | VICTORIA, BC [Updated October 22, 2023]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Today’s one-hour BC Greens 40th anniversary media session was relatively extensive given the time for remarks by five current candidates followed by media questions.
Leading the livestreamed teleconference today was BC Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau: “We need political leadership to rise to the challenges of the times we are in.” In a news release the 40-year theme was given a marquee theme of “defying expectations”.
At the session held in downtown Victoria, Furstenau was joined by BC Green House Leader Adam Olsen (MLA, Saanich North and the Islands), Deputy Leader Dr Sanjiv Gandhi (candidate in Vancouver-Renfrew — renamed for 2024 from Vancouver-Granville due to a boundary change), Nicole Charlwood (candidate for Kootenay Central), and Ned Taylor (candidate for Saanich South).
Olsen said that it’s only a ‘cynical view’ of politics that diminishes the role of how much impact can be made by even a small number of MLAs. “Understanding and using the tools (of the Legislative Assembly) can make a remarkable difference,” said Olsen.
Furstenau said that “British Columbians have repeatedly shown up for the BC Greens”, because she says the party does “compassionate, equitable and evidence-based politics that changes the lives of people in BC”.
The impact of BC Greens advocacy has transformed important issues into provincial policies and laws, including but not limited to: banning big money (2017), lobbying reform (2017), Clean BC environmental plan (2018), speculation and vacancy tax (2018), Wild Salmon Advisory Council (2018), ending birth alerts (2019), old growth protection (2020), modernizing the family doctor compensation model (2022), and free prescription contraception (2023).
Building their slate of candidates:
Furstenau said that Green candidates are “recognized leaders and change makers in their communities”. Gandhi said that the party under Furstenau’s leadership “makes people not politics the most important consideration in all that we do”. Arguably, the NDP government professes the same priority of putting people first.
The next BC provincial election is currently scheduled for just one year from now on October 19, 2024. A Green Gala will be held on Saturday October 14 in Victoria. The Forty and Forward event is a fundraising dinner event with a semi-formal dress code.
So far there are nine BC Green candidates in place for the 2024 election: Sonia Furstenau (Juan de Fuca-Malahat), Adam Olsen (Saanich North and the Islands), Dr Lisa Gunderson (Oak Bay-Gordon Head), Dr Sanjiv Gandhi (Vancouver-Renfrew), Nicole Charlwood (Kootenay-Renfrew), Jeremy Valeriote (West Vancouver-Sea to Sky), Christina Winter (Victoria-Swan Lake), Ned Taylor (Saanich South), and Stephanie Hendy (Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream).
Candidate Ned Taylor, 24, said there is a need for more young people in elected politics: “My generation deserves better” he said, referring to the issues of housing and climate change.
Health care and climate change:
Health care system improvements and climate change responsiveness were two top issues today:
BC Green deputy leader Dr Sanjiv Gandhi said that “clean indoor air” is one of the best ways to protect people’s health during respiratory season (re COVID, flu, RSV, etc). “It’s so easy to measure and economically makes a ton of sense.”
He said “the landscape of health-care is evolving rapidly”. Within that Gandhi said the Greens will continue to push for more use of physician assistants in BC, and that BC Green MLAs already did play a part in helping BC move past the “antiquated” fee for service model of how family doctors have been paid for many decades. He said the BC Greens will be listening to the “valuable insights” of health-care professionals. He noted the connection between physical and mental well-being being recognized as important in the health-care system.
Other than saying that it was the BC Greens who pushed for “immediate action on short-term rentals” to help alleviate the rental crisis, not as much was said about housing, but Island Social Trends is following up on that. For now, Furnstenau has said the the NDP housing plan does not cover all that needs to be done. “It does nothing to address the fact that more housing being built doesn’t make housing affordable,” she said in a statement today.
===== ABOUT ISLAND SOCIAL TRENDS:
Island Social Trends follows the trends in socioeconomic and political change in BC. News insights are published daily at IslandSocialTrends.ca .
Editor Mary P Brooke, B.Sc., Cert PR has been covering news through that lens since 2008, as the founder, editor and publisher of: MapleLine Magazine (2008-2010), Sooke Voice News (2011-2013), West Shore Voice News (2014-2020), and Island Social Trends (mid-2020 to present).
This year Mary P Brooke was nominated for the Jack Webster Foundation’s award that recognizes a woman’s contribution to her community through journalism.
Ms Brooke how reports with the BC Legislative Press Gallery. She lives in Langford, BC where the community knows her as a journalist and advocate for urban food resilience.