Tuesday July 9, 2024 | VICTORIA, BC
Political analysis by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
At one time the Green flavour of politics was an up and coming thing. It has in the last decade or two achieved recognized party status in various legislative levels in Canada, including both federally and in BC.
The Greens gained traction over the past few decades with their emphasis on environmental issues. Now they seem to be saying they are about ‘more than environment’ even though their strongest card is still environment and climate change issues.
This could just be a natural cyclical change — some leaders have been in elected office or leadership roles for a long time. But it could also signal a shift in voter interest for how they are represented. “Politics is not forever,” as was said today by BC Premier Eby.
The shift in BC:
Part of the slip-and-slide in BC started with Andrew Weaver (then BC Greens Leader) stepping down at the end of 2019, which left the remaining two BC Green MLAs (Sonia Furstenau and Adam Olsen) open to the whack of a snap election called by then-Premier John Horgan (NDP) for September 2020. Furstenau and Olsen held onto their seats but the party did not grow and Horgan landed a majority for the NDP that has lasted to this day.
Weaver keeps shifting. He’s now speaking loudly in favour of the Conservative Party of BC — a far cry from where he was in the BC Greens and being a kingmaker for Horgan and the NDP.
The federal shift:
Today, Jonathan Pedneault announced his resignation as Deputy Leader of the federal Green Party. “It has been the honour of a lifetime to work alongside @ElizabethMay – an absolute national treasure – and @morricemike, two outstanding Members of Parliament who dedicate their every waken hour to making the lives of their constituents better. At a time of hyper partisanship, Elizabeth and Mike exemplify public service in ways that no other politicians can or do.”
Elizabeth May as the long-time federal Green leader has weathered storms for her party as well. After stepping back from being leader a few years ago, she had to return when Annamie Paul was trounced a Toronto Centre by-election then also suffered the fate of internal party politics which led to her resignation in September 2021.
May as the incumbent in Saanich-Gulf Islands in the upcoming 2025 federal election will have a stronger-than-usual NDP force to reckon with — not that the candidate Colin Plant is that strong (his transition from municipal/CRD leadership seems to not yet be resonating) but the ground game team behind him will be.
BC Greens in election 2024:
For this upcoming BC provincial election on October 19, 2024 BC Green Leader Sonia Furstenau has only 18 candidates so far. It appears that having a BC Green candidate in every one of the 93 ridings is a far stretch. Last week there was an open public call to anyone who wanted to run.
Furstenau herself is up for a tough race in Victoria-Beacon Hill where the major contender is NDP incumbent Grace Lore (a party darling and current a cabinet minister who rescued the NDP’s fate by taking on the Ministry of Children and Family Development).
Some of the new candidates, if they win, could keep the BC Greens on the map in the BC Legislative Assembly come October 19.
Chances could be strong for BC Green candidates David Evans in Juan de Fuca-Malahat (he’s well known in the region), Cammy Lockwood (she will have the leftovers of Furstenau’s support in that riding), Christina Winter (now that Fleming is not seeking re-election for the NDP that creates a more even playing field for newcomers), and Jeremy Valeriote in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky (he came close to winning there in 2020).
Camille Currie may have a shot at Esquimalt-Colwood with her messaging about the health-care system in crisis (which Premier David Eby said as recently as today is a Canada-wide problem). But there will be a strong NDP team there supporting incumbent Mitzi Dean and the BC United candidate Meagan Brame may bring her local Esquimalt municipal voter base to the voting booth.
But any new Green MLAs (all who win, other than Furstenau) will be new to the game and the party’s role as ‘conscience of the legislature’ might be all they have to stand on for a while.
===== RELATED:
- BC Green leader to address Victoria Chamber in September (July 6, 2024)
- Saanich-Gulf Islands NDP chooses Colin Plant as their candidate (April 27, 2024)
- Elizabeth May gunning for 5th term in Saanich-Gulf Islands (April 24, 2024)
- Furstenau takes BC Green fight to downtown Victoria (February 1, 2024)
- Andrew Weaver drops BC Green Party affiliation to sit as independent (January 15, 2020)
- NEWS SECTIONS: POLITICS | BC ELECTION 2024 | BC GREENS