We have a unique opportunity in West Vancouver – Sea to Sky for this coming provincial election. On October 19, 2024, we can vote in a voice of reason.

The BC Liberal party (latterly BC United) folded out of the game for this round, leaving two parties to contend for control of the province — the BC Conservatives and the BC NDP.

But there’s a third party — one that won’t form government, but could still be very influential. In our riding, the BC Green Party candidate has a real chance to win. He’s neck and neck with the BC Conservative, and I’m writing this post to help undecided voters be part of this exciting change.

What’s Good About Green?

The Green Party is about building a sustainable future – both locally and around the world. They use the U.N.’s sustainable development goals as a model for policy that works together to create a world that’s fair, clean, peaceful, and prosperous. Their ideas build on each other in a way that’s so logical, it’s amazing.

People know the Greens for their environmental strengths. What I love just as much is that fiscal sustainability is essential to their ethos as well. When Jeremy talks about improving public health care, he’s upfront that he’d trim from the excessive admin salaries to pay for more doctors and nurses on the ground. When he talks about funding new clean energy projects, he’s clear that it would be instead of using public money to subsidize new fossil fuel development. This is unlike every other party I’ve seen, who spend first and find the money later.

They’re science-based. While BC’s two major parties continue to pour good public money into subsidizing polluters and giving tax breaks to corporate giants, the Green Party makes decisions based on what science and logic tell them — not what the lobbyists convince them is right.

Greens collaborate. They don’t expect to form government — they expect to be part of the conversation. Right now, there are two Greens in the BC Legislature, Sonia Furstenau and Adam Olsen. During their time as MLAs, they’ve helped shape policy on child welfare, childcare, early childhood education, environmental legislation, Indigenous reconciliation, and more.

The more voices we can add to the BC legislature, the more Green ideas we can get into the committees that shape public policy. We can’t change the world all at once, but it’s a major sustainable step each time a climate advocate is elected into office.

If you agree that more Green voices are a good thing, and you live in the West Vancouver-Sea to Sky riding, I have two pieces of good news:

1. Jeremy Valeriote, the Green Party candidate, has a real shot of winning this seat.
2. Current polls have the NDP and Conservatives neck and neck to win the province — which means the conditions are ripe for a minority government.

Why is a minority good?

When one party has more than half of the votes in parliament (a majority), they control the narrative. The party leader can whip any vote they like, which forces every MLA in their party to vote along party lines (or face ejection from the party).

A minority government, on the other hand, forces collaboration. The party in power can’t railroad through any old legislation they like — they need the support of at least a few members from other parties — votes they can’t whip, but have to earn.

When the Greens hold the balance of power, they get heard.

What’s good about Jeremy Valeriote?

Jeremy is an engineer. When I hear him talk about connecting the Sea to Sky corridor with public transit that extends from Pemberton down to the Lower Mainland, he’s actually looking at the rail lines and the highway and talking about how he’d suggest making it happen, and in what order. (Not just vague political rhetoric saying it’s a good thing to do.)

He comes to the Green Party as a centrist — neither left nor right, but combining the good things he sees from both sides of the spectrum. Sound fiscal policy and inclusive social policy are both essential to his ethos. I’m confident that he’d work well with whichever party takes power.

He’s legit. A smart, down-to-earth guy who doesn’t engage in political double speak. Just wants to go to Victoria and try to get some Green ideas into action. To borrow words I once heard from John Tory (one of my favourite politicians of all time), Jeremy’s running so he can “do a job, not land a job.” If all of our politicians just wanted to roll up their sleeves and get to work, we’d have a world that works.

Jeremy came within 60 votes of winning West Vancouver-Sea to Sky in 2020. We went to bed thinking he’d won, and in the morning, the mail-in ballots shifted the balance for the incumbent, Jordan Sturdy.

This election, let’s finish the job and get him over the line.