Winter 2005

Candidate Michael Nutland

I am seeking the Green party nomination because I believe that we are at a critical point, not just in human history but in the history of the planet of which we are a part.

British Columbia is in a position to lead the world in environmentally sustainable practices and this can only be done by example, not by rhetoric. I believe the Green Party is the only political force that currently has the vision, the integrity and, most importantly, the freedom to start the implementation of those changes.

We must start to connect the dots between the issues that we face. Most of these issues are of our own creation and the solutions must be of our own creation.

The connection between the sky-rocketing cost of our health care system ( which is actually a sickness care system ) and the de-grading of the air, water and land that we rely on to provide the true necessities of life must be acknowledged before we can start to fix either.

Our current obsessive love affair with fossil fuels is a major contributor to the rapid environmental decline we face. Our current political leadership is determined to take us further down that road so that they can dangle the carrot of short term 'prosperity' in front of the voting public, while completely ignoring the true cost of extracting and consuming those fossil fuels.

We need to stop micro-managing problems and start to view them in the context of a total environment.

The current adversarial politics in British Columbia lead to governments being thrown out, rather than being elected for having any true leadership qualities. I am involved with the Green Party because I feel they have those leadership abilities.

I have been a long time Green Party supporter and in 1984 was part of the original executive in the Comox Valley.

Born and educated in England, Michael found his home in Canada in 1972 after extensive travel in Europe, Asia, India and the South Pacific.

Michael has a wealth of experience in business having owned and operated a restaurant in Gibsons and the Wells Hotel in Wells BC.

Michael served as the Vice-President of the Gibsons Harbour Business Association and President of the Wells and district chamber of Commerce.

After moving to the Comox Valley in 1979 and experimenting with the usual construction and silviculture trades, Michael discovered his calling as a 'people person' and care-giver.

Michael is currently working for the Community Access Program supporting people with physical and intellectual challenges and helping special needs adults explore business venture opportunities.

As a father of five, a community worker and an advocate for the disadvantaged, Michael feels that he has the skills to be the MLA for the Comox Valley

Candidate Susan Holvenstot

I am seeking nomination as the Green Party candidate for MLA because the Comox Valley and the planet desperately need more Green voices and ideas in government.

One of the main solutions to the environmental, economic and spiritual crisis that grips our North American culture lies in curbing the apparently insatiable human desire for more and more things. Learning to live well and happily on LESS is one of the most significant challenges of our time. And the beautiful part is that anyone and everyone can make a difference. I believe I can serve as an example of an average person who has made a conscious decision to embrace voluntary simplicity.

Satish Kumar, scholar and former Jain monk said: "The solution to many of the world's problems is not the alleviation of poverty, but the alleviation of affluence." He also added: "Have less, be more."

I don't own a car. I use a bicycle, my horse and my membership in a car-share co-op as my primary means of transportation.

I live in a small hand-built house on shared land in Dove Creek. I compost, recycle and grow quite a bit of my own food. I have a solar hot water heater and solar panels for part of my electric needs. I buy recycled and used clothes and goods as much a possible. I do not buy from big box stores, instead try to shop locally as much a possible. I am a vegetarian, eating low on the food chain. I try to live my personal life with a small ecological footprint.

I do not think that everyone can or should live as I do, but I do want to show that it is possible to live more simply.

My first priority when elected will be to emphasise long term planning. We must look ahead at least seven generations, as many First Nations teach.

One main issue is to reduce energy consumption, especially that of fossil fuels. That means maintaining the moratorium on off-shore oil and gas exploration and limiting any development of the local Comox Valley coal bed methane deposits. It also means strongly encouraging drivers to get out of their cars. By building more safe bicycle routes, commuters and school children will be safe enough to bike every day. Imagine the impact both on traffic flow and our general Comox Valley health, if half the citizens currently in cars rode a bike or took public transit to work or school each day.

And think of the benefits of less congestion and the savings with fewer new roads to build. Reducing and limiting urban sprawl by using Smart Growth planning designs will reduce private vehicle use, and allow for compact and sustainable communities in the Comox Valley.

Another major focus will be preventative health actions, not the expensive and costly sickness care that we presently have. Programs to encourage a healthy diet, by banning junk foods in the schools and taxing junk foods elsewhere, will be a start. More exercise and less stressful jobs are the other parts of a healthy lifestyle. "Work and spend less, play and enjoy more, and live longer" is my slogan.

Another focus will be to reduce corporate control of the food system, and especially to reduce the spread of genetically engineered crops. Supporting local farmers is one of the most effective ways to ensure our independence both from multinational control, and the high ecological cost of imported foods.

I believe that people are most influenced by the personal action and example of others. I live well on a low income. I actually consider myself to be very wealthy when I compare myself with most people in the world.

I try to live by the basic Green Party principles of non-violence, respect for nature, personal and global responsibility, social justice and a conserver society. I value compassion, kindness, honesty, life-long learning, humour and self discipline.

I have participated as a grassroots activist in non-profit organizations and committees promoting local solutions, like community forests, bicycle routes and greenway corridors, sewage/septic education and community gardening.

If we in British Columbia can't model how a sustainable conserver society will work, with all our resources, freedom, and intelligence, then what hope is there for the rest of the planet?

Candidate Chris Aikman

Best wishes for the New Year to all Greens, in the Comox Valley and beyond.

As 2005 is upon us, I realize it is indeed time to indicate my intention to seek the nomination of the Comox Valley Green Party constituency association as candidate for the May 17 provincial election. I applaud those candidates who have already come forth, but I believe that a vigorous examination of all the issues and options will serve us well in our common objective to influence the policy and direction that will emerge in the forthcoming election. The reason I have hesitated to declare my interest is that I have only been a full-time resident of the constituency for six months. However, I have resided here part time (on Hornby Island) since 1994, and Vancouver Island has been my home since 1968.

I was born in our nation's capital, but took most of my schooling in Quebec City. I graduated with an M.Sc. from University of Toronto, and came to work as an astronomer at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (now part of National Research Council) in Victoria for three decades. For the past six years, I have been an 'itinerant worker', running my own business, doing some contract work, and all manner of other jobs in between. In the 'other jobs' category, I spent two years in the Information Management Group at the Ministry of Health Services. I mostly enjoyed my thirty-two years in the federal and provincial public services, but they have also imparted in me a sense of how blind and deaf governments can be to the real needs of society, the economy and especially the environment. As I am now (at least at this moment) retired, I hope to use some of this experience to change that. In other words, I have time to devote to the Green Party in the interesting and challenging times we live in. My wife and I have, between us, five adult children and a teenage daughter still at home (and attending Highland Secondary). Five of our six children live on Vancouver Island.

I might as well start off by declaring my prejudices. Since we are created as individuals with free will, each of us is responsible first and foremost for our own lot in life. But, since most of us are no longer skilled in or capable of providing all of our material needs, we are also part of a complex fabric of local, regional, national and global providers, making us very much each others' keeper. So the role of government in this increasingly interdependent world is to provide the stability, services and infrastructure that will allow each individual the maximum opportunity for fulfillment. The key word in all of this is "opportunity". Somehow it has happened that, in recent years, our most cherished ideas of democracy, free market economy, security of food and health, and a social safety net, have become so twisted and distorted as to be harmful and unrecognizable to us. Our opportunities stand diminished, as is our freedom.

In 2001, the Liberals won a legislative majority far out of proportion to their mandate, and have done pretty much whatever the party elite chose to do since that time. It has not been a pretty sight. If I am the candidate chosen, I will make every effort to challenge their choices, and call for re-examination with a new degree of citizen participation in all decisions. For here is the real issue of the current election: responsible government. Any government that acts with the elitism and disregard of public input that we have witnessed under the Campbell Liberals is truly irresponsible.

I truly believe that the excesses of recent BC governments (Liberal and NDP) would not have been possible had we already implemented the voting system proposed by the Citizen's Assembly for the May 17 referendum. For this reason, I strongly favour change to the Single Transferable Vote system. However, we cannot bear another four years of non-representative government until 2009, either!

The Green Book and the recent policy resolutions of the Party provide fresh principles to restore sanity and accountability to government. I believe it is both possible and necessary to bring sustainable growth through a wise tax policy of incentives and disincentives, rather than through heavy-handed or arbitrary means. I embrace the Green core goals of a socially just and compassionate society, a strong and healthy economy, protection of the natural environment, and truly accountable, representative government. Together, we can build "a society that works for everyone".

Wangari Maathai--Green Nobel Peace Winner
Reporters missed a stunning upset

Wangari Maathai, Green Party politician of Kenya, beat out nominees George W. Bush and Tony Blair for the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. While Maathai's award was well covered, none of the mainstream North American media mentioned her Green Party affiliation. Maathai founded the Mazingira Green Party in 1987, and was elected to the Kenyan parliament in 2002. She is currently the assistant minister for Environment and Natural Resources.

She was the first African woman and the first environmentalist to ever be so honoured. She is known as the founder of the highly successful Green Belt Movement that has inspired women especially to plant 30 millions trees in the past 30 years across East and Central Africa. She worked to protect open spaces and forests from "unscrupulous developers who were often working hand in hand with politicians" and was jailed and beaten for her efforts.

In her acceptance speech in Olso in December 2004, she said:

"I believe the Nobel Committee recognized the links between environment, democracy and peace…"

"Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life support system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own indeed, to embrace the whole creation in all its diversity, beauty, and wonder."

May we all hear and heed that call.

STV or not STV?
2001 Revisited

VOTING: You can select as many or as few preferences as you desire. Your lower preferences cannot prevent your higher preferences from winning.

VOTE COUNT: If your preferred candidate wins with more than the necessary number of votes, his or her 'surplus votes' will be re-allocated to your lower preferences. If there are fewer candidates with sufficient first count votes than there are MLAs to be elected, the candidates with the fewest first preference votes will be dropped from further consideration. These voters' lower preferences re-allocated--until the required number of MLAs is elected. For a flash illustration of the count, see the bc-stv web site at http://www.bc-stv.ca/

VOTE SPLITTING: STV is designed so that so-called 'vote splitting' and 'strategic voting' are well nigh impossible. If your preferences are anything other than 'honest' you will confound your own wishes!

PROPORTIONALITY: If voters vote along party lines, the outcome of a STV election will be far more proportional than a First Past the Post (FPTP) election. If the 2001 BC election had been run under STV, the outcome for our North Vancouver Island riding would have been: 4 Liberals, 1 NDP and 1 Green.

Across the province, making the same assumptions, the results would have been 56 Liberal, 15 NDP and 8 Green; not fully proportional but a heck of a lot better that we got.

On the other hand, if voters had ignored party lines and voted for the candidates closest to home, we would have had the same result as we got on 2001. The actual outcome--who knows? As we voters become more familiar with STV, we would feel more comfortable with voting for the BEST candidate rather than the lesser of two evils.

LARGE RIDINGS: Because of the larger ridings, election campaigns will be that much more demanding--particularly for smaller less wealthy parties. On the other hand, the campaign will be more bio-regional, perhaps favouring the Green Party. It will be a challenge and an opportunity for the Green Party.

  DF Nov 10, 2004