By JASON MOGUS
My family moved to Salt Spring 11 years ago, in part because of the incredible nature, but also because of the community, with its values of progressive action and social change.
Having worked in national and international politics and advocacy, I was struck, however, by how this was such a solidly “Green Party island.” Of course not everyone here is a capital G Green, but the dominant political organizing work and leaders for the last decade are really pro-Green.
Personally, I’ve never really found a political home with any of the parties. I’ve been a reluctant supporter of both the BC NDP and BC Greens at times, but I am feeling like it’s time for a change.
There’s an important election next month in B.C. While most of our attention has been on the U.S. and federal drama, a number of factors are converging to make this what could be the most consequential provincial race in a long time. And what Salt Spring does matters.
Adam Olsen isn’t running. I think he’s been a great MLA. I really like him and appreciate all he’s tried to do for our community, and of course it’s been rewarding to help advance reconciliation in a small way by having an Indigenous MLA.
But at the end of two terms, it became clear that having an MLA from a party not only out of power but on the outer edges of it wasn’t helping us win material benefits for our community.
Whether it’s the Salish Sea cycling trail, affordable housing policies that Salt Spring is constantly exempt from, helping pay for expensive water treatment systems, or even something as simple as garbage cans in town, our community can seem stuck, and on its own. I talk to a lot of younger people who are frustrated to live in a place with such astounding creative capacity but where not much really happens to improve our facilities or solve obvious problems.
We have these awesome MPs and MLAs who are great for a chat and to attend a community meeting or rally, but when it comes to the main purpose of government — making laws and accessing funds — are not able to deliver the goods.
What would it look like for us to have an MLA who was part of a governing party, or maybe even a cabinet minister, who could more easily access the attention, resources, and yes, funding, of our provincial government?
Sarah Riddell recently won the nomination for the BC NDP in this riding. I only recently met her, but have been very impressed so far. She’s a real go-getter with tons of capacity and energy. In addition to being a Central Saanich municipal councillor, she until recently worked at the Ministry of Health on challenging health files, is a highly engaged mom and even finds time to volunteer at a number of civic groups.
She cares about the same things our community does: climate change, getting health care when and where we need it, addressing inequality and affordable housing for locals. She’s gotten real things done on Central Saanich council, and knows how to leverage her elected position to advance real action with real world results. She’s also of a younger generation who gets the interconnections between today’s tricky issues.
Sometimes it’s easy to forget how lucky we are to have a government in B.C. who shares most of our progressive values! For most of my 30 years in B.C. we’ve had premiers who mostly just cut services while giving handouts to corporations and the wealthy. I’ve loosely known Premier David Eby since his days as an activist in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, and I’ve always respected his intellect and compassion. The NDP has for sure upset a lot of progressives as they hewed to the centre to remain in power in our diverse province, but at the end of the day they have done a lot of positive things.
But perhaps most importantly, like in the U.S., France and many other places, we now have to unite and fight to stop the rise of the far right. Just last month the centre-right BC Liberals/BC United suspended their campaign to support the BC Conservatives. The BC Conservative leader doesn’t believe in climate change, but he does believe in a number of wacky conspiracies. He wants to take away freedoms like what kids can learn in school, who people can love, whether we continue to advance Indigenous rights and reconciliation and whether we can stop this world from burning. All that plus make drastic cuts to services and solutions we need.
The stakes of this provincial election couldn’t be higher. If we vote for the protest party, if we split the left and allow a Conservative to win, we stand to lose, a lot. Just at the time when the world needs bold solutions, not more division and chaos.
I wonder if Salt Spring is ready for some real change in the form of representation in Victoria. Besides getting an awesome local leader who might be able to access real power and funding, we would also do our part to stop the rise of the far right and their dangerous ideas.
I hope you get a chance to meet Sarah Riddell and I hope more of us open our minds to a new approach. Most importantly, I hope you get out and vote on Oct. 19.
The writer works to support climate, biodiversity and justice campaigns in Canada and around the world.