GREEN POWER SURGE
Party makes gains on council, school and park boards
Vancouver just got a whole lot greener.
After Saturday’s election, the Green party has emerged as a political force in the city, gaining new seats on council and the park board, and potentially holding the balance of power in council chambers.
On Sunday, Adriane Carr, who sat through two lonely terms as the sole Green councillor, welcomed the coming reinforcements, including Pete Fry and former park board commissioner Michael Wiebe.
“It was a really great night for the Greens,” said Carr. “It was very humbling, and we are very honoured to have the public place that trust in us.”
Voters elected nine out of 10 candidates fielded by the Green party, just one seat short of the more-established NPA, which won 10 seats across council and the two boards.
The Green party added seats on the park board, with newcomers Dave Demers and Camil Dumont joining Stuart Mackinnon. It retained the same number of seats on the school board, with incumbents Janet Fraser — the city’s top vote-getter with more than 75,000 — and Estrellita Gonzalez joined by Lois Chan-Pedley.
When asked if the Greens will be holding the balance of power once council convenes, Carr laughed. “Maybe. That could be what happens,” adding “I think people will seek us out for support in moving ideas forward.”
The Green party holds three votes in council, with the NPA holding the majority with five, COPE and OneCity represented by one councillor each, and one vote going to mayor-elect Kennedy Stewart, an independent.
Carr said her party believes in a “more collaborative style of politics,” and will be able to work with all the other parties, especially on issues where they have policies that overlap. For example, the Greens agree with the NPA on the need for a city-wide plan, but also share the same concerns with COPE and OneCity over the precarious situation facing renters in Vancouver.
Strikingly, seven of the nine Greens elected received the highest number of votes in all — a sign of the party’s growing popularity among voters.
Part of the appeal is because of the Green’s stance on climate change, something a large number of voters expressed concern about on the campaign trail, said Carr. But it was also because the public knew the Greens aren’t “wedded” to the development industry. “They say to me that they like we are always putting public interests first, not private interest. They are tired of developer-driven decision-making.”
And perhaps more importantly, voters like that the Greens have stood above hyper-partisan bickering that has sometimes marred previous councils and park and school boards, said Carr.
B.C. Green party Leader Andrew Weaver said he was thrilled by the number of Greens elected across the province.
“We have seen a surge of support coming our way across British Columbia,” he said. “A number of (candidates) who are Green got elected. It’s quite exciting.”
In Burnaby, the Green party’s Joe Keithley won a council seat. A “remarkable achievement,” said Weaver, given the stranglehold of the Burnaby Citizens Association in local politics.
Weaver said he’s confident that Vancouver Greens will be able to work well with other parties, similar to how the provincial Greens have worked with the NDP. He believes the Green party provides a moderating effect on politics, on both the municipal and provincial levels, and predicts it will play a more dominant role in future.
“As a party, we work incredibly hard ensuring stable good governance in a highly partisan environment,” said Weaver. “That shows the electorate we ... put public policy front and centre.”