Sparkling Green success in Vancouver, Burnaby gives party momentum
Greens grab 11 seats in the two municipalities, those elected promise to work across party lines
Green party insiders and supporters hope that success in Vancouver and Burnaby in Saturday's municipal vote will lead to greater gains across the country at multiple levels of government.
In Vancouver, Coun. Adriane Carr was re-elected and will be joined on the 10-person council by Pete Fry and Michael Wiebe.
"I'm very excited about it," said Carr, who received the most votes of any candidate running for council in Vancouver.
Janet Fraser of the Green Party received the most votes of any Vancouver School Board trustee candidate. And fellow Green Estrellita Gonzalez was second in votes, while Lois Chan-Pedley was also elected.
The top vote-getters for Vancouver's Park Board were Greens as well: Stuart MacKinnon, Dave Demers, and Camil Dumont all won seats.
The wins in Vancouver were celebrated by Sky Losier, the outreach coordinator for federal Green Party leader Elizabeth May. Losier wrote on Twitter the candidates were, "outperforming all the establishment parties by miles."
'We have momentum'
Following his sixth time running for the Greens at either the provincial or municipal level, punk rocker Joe Keithley was elected to Burnaby council. The Green's Christine Cunnigham was elected as a school board trustee in the city.
"I think we have momentum and I think people are getting the idea that the Green party is a sensible party that will listen to you," said Keithley.
He's been a party member since the late 90s and says the party has grown from a political movement to a viable ballot choice.
"It's gotten a lot more organized lately and and more efficient at getting our message out to people, which is the key," he said. "People want to know what you stand for."
Keithley hopes to introduce plastic bans to the city and switch some city-owned vehicles to hybrid or electric models.
On council though, Keithley will join seven other councillors, all incumbents. Only he and new mayor Mike Hurley aren't members of the Burnaby Citizen's Association, which has ruled the city for decades.
Still, Keithley says a core value for all Greens is to be able to work collaboratively and across party lines.
"Not everyone agrees with us and we don't agree with all of them but we're going to find a way to make it work," he said.
Lower municipal stakes
Political watchers recognize the Greens as a political force in B.C., but aren't sure Saturday's wins will translate elsewhere.
"I don't really believe it's going to have a huge impact on the rest of the country in terms of other Green potential supporters," said Sanjay Jeram, a political scientist at Simon Fraser University.
That's because the stakes are lower at the local level, he said.
Municipal politicians can come up with policies to reduce waste but they don't have the tools to levy taxes or put caps on things like emissions.
Still Jeram says if B.C. residents vote in a referendum to adopt proportional representation, that could be the boost that gives the Green Party more equality with the provincial NDP and Liberals.