Monday July 15, 2024 | LANGFORD, BC [Updated July 17, 2024]
Editorial by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Update July 17, 2024 – More BC Green candidate announcements coming soon, says BC Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau. That includes in Langford-Highlands where there’s a tough race ahead (Ravi Parmar for NPD and Mike Harris for Conservatives of BC). The party got a strong response to their open call for candidates, something they also did in the 2020 election.
Between BC Green House Leader Adam Olsen not running for re-election and BC Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau setting herself up for a tough fight in Victoria-Beacon Hill against NDP high-profile candidate Grace Lore, the BC Green Party is already undergoing some significant transition. Olsen says he will muscle down on helping other BC Green candidates get elected.
Since 2020 there have only been two Green MLAs in the BC Legislature (Furstenau and Olsen). For the October 19 election they so far have only have 18 candidates across 93 electoral areas.
It might seem democratic to have now put out an open call for anyone who wants to run Green, but in traditional political terms it might seem weak.
Furstenau was first elected in 2017. Back in February she said with bravado that she always wins whenever she runs for elected office.
She has recruited some strong candidates for Greater Victoria ridings (e.g. Camille Currie in Esquimalt-Colwood and David Evans in Juan de Fuca-Malahat) and Jeremy Valeriote in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky where he almost won in 2020.
University prof and former Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver is flopping around like a fish on a boat deck, having at one time propped up the BC NDP to form government, then supporting the federal Liberal climate plan in Trudeau photo-ops, and now voicing support for BC Conservatives. ‘Not helping’ might be the polite BC Greens response.
~ As first published on page 2 in the July 12, 2024 Island Social Trends biweekly Print Edition | SUBSCRIBERS WELCOME
=====RELATED:
- National & BC Greens undergoing political transition (July 9, 2024)
- BC Green leader to address Victoria Chamber in September (July 6, 2024)
NEWS SECTIONS: POLITICS | BC PROVINCIAL ELECTION 2024 | BC GREEN PARTY
===== ABOUT THE WRITER:
Mary P Brooke is the founder and editor of Island Social Trends. She has been covering elections in the west shore since 2008 and publishing throughout the transitional storm that is print-to-online. She writes through a socioeconomic lens, always with the political impacts on households, community and society in mind.
Her series of print publications is now archived at the Sooke Region Museum: MapleLine Magazine (2008-2010), Sooke Voice News (2011-2013), and West Shore Voice News (2014-2020).
Shifting during the pandemic to publishing entirely online, Ms Brooke’s readership follows her at IslandSocialTrends.ca . The print-PDF biweekly edition (launched in 2024) is available for free pickup in communities around the west shore, and by PDF to anywhere by email.