While we were disappointed that Pam wasn't elected as our MP, we should be proud that with 4456 votes, Vancouver Island North registered the 8th highest Green vote in Canada and the 5th highest in BC. Given the extreme fear-driven polarization in Canada and particularly in BC and on the Island where the other major parties - with ten times the financial resources of the Green Party - targeted Island ridings, the Green vote is remarkable.

With 4.3 percent of the vote nationwide, well over the 2 percent threshold for public funding of $1.75 per vote per year in lieu of limits to individual and corporate funding, the Green Party will receive a little over $1 million per year until the next election--which could be any day. The GPC Federal Council is grappling with how to use this funding to grow the party in every corner of the country and to elect Green MPs.

The Green Party of Canada (GPC) retreat at Toronto, October 16-17, was attended by all 11 officers and 6 provincial representatives. All council functionary positions - for the first time in memory - are filled by elected officers! At Toronto, Council committed to the transition from a part-time-side-of-the-desk board to a truly governing board with a full time executive and staff. As an indication of the growth of the party: in 2000 the party received 0.8% of the vote on a $20,000 budget; In 2004 4.3% of the vote with a $500,000 budget (compared to over $10 million for the other three major national parties). The GPC budget will now be over $1 million annually.

Because the electors of Canada, in their wisdom, choose to elect a minority government, the Green Party has to stay in pre-election mode while it restructures its operations to acknowledge that it is now a real player on the Canadian political scene and the people of Canada have high expectations for it. None of this would have happened without the hard work and dedication of our candidate, her campaign manager and all the volunteers and supporters who worked so hard during the election.

BC Greens are gearing up for the provincial election which will take place on May 17, 2005. With the BC Green Party hovering between 12 and 18 percent in the polls in a seriously polarized political scene, this election is looking like a tough battle. In addition the voters of BC will be asked by referendum whether they would like our electoral system to be changed to some form of Single Transferable Vote, as recommended by the Citizens' Assembly.

My role on Council is to represent the interests of British Columbia to Council and to represent the interests of Canada to British Columbia. This is no mean task--the population of BC is most diverse. I look for synergies between the GPBC and the GPC. I also sit on the GPBC Council as its External Liaison Officer--the only BC Green currently doing double duty on both Councils.

I was gratified at the recent Council retreat in Toronto that we are finally dealing with how to craft a million dollar plus budget and to develop an organizational structure that reflects the needs of a major Canadian political party. Success brings many challenges. Crisis embodies both danger and opportunity.

All of the world's crises--war, oil depletion, climate change, floods, hurricanes, etc--that we Greens have been warning about for the past 40 years are coming home to roost. Our recent electoral success comes from people finally realizing that we are right and have solutions to ecological problems. The struggle will not be easy, but it is the struggle we have been working for; let's get busy. As Niccolo Machiavelli pointed out many years ago: "It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things."

A provincial by-election was held October 28th in the lower mainland constituency of Surrey-Panorama Ridge. It was an election the ruling Liberals would have rather avoided. They knew that historically the ruling party loses by-elections as unhappy electors take the opportunity to "send the government a message." On cue, the electors gave the Liberals, who won the constituency handily in the last election, a punishing 34.4% of the vote. The NDP won with 53.5%, the Green Party took 8.4% and the remanding small parties and independents each took less than 3%.

The Greens are in a different situation than the other two main parties: we are still in a party-building phase and must take every chance we get to introduce ourselves to voters. Historically, this was not a constituency in which Greens have done well. Adriane Carr, our leader, ran for the party and drew much more media attention than if we had run a local with lower voter recognition. Greens from many different parts of BC, including Don and Pam Munroe from Courtenay, came to help staff the office, answer phones, do foot canvassing and put up signs.

Adriane explained that it was important for us to contest every seat and to prove to the electors of this province that we are a party that is here for keeps and that we don't just pop up for elections. Although we didn't increase our vote in the constituency over the last election, many more people in the area know about the party and what we stand for and we sold a number of new memberships. It also helped develop a much stronger constituency association. That's the work of political parties. We're out there and we're doing it