Vancouver Point Grey ~ BC Green update ~ 73 days until provincial election & electoral reform referendum

The below note was sent out to the 500+ BC Green supporters in Vancouver Point Grey.

Good afternoon,

I hope my note finds you well this 25th anniversary year of the BC Greens.

The Green Party of BC is well prepared to run a full slate of candidates again for the upcoming provincial election and 2nd referendum
on electoral reform.

With our campaign budget confirmed and election material to be published shortly we are at a historically high level of election preparedness.

1. BC Green candidates
We've announced candidates in eight of Vancouver's eleven ridings for the May 12, 2009 provincial election.
http://www.greenparty.bc.ca/candidates

2. BC STV ~ electoral reform with proportional representation ~ get involved
In 93% of the members of the Citizens Assembly, who were non-political and from all walks of life, recommended BC STV as a new electoral system. According to the Citizens Assembly BC STV provides for fairer and more local oriented provincial democracy.

British Columbians voted 58% in favour of BC STV in 2005 failing to meet the 60% threshold. Premier Campbell has enabled Elections BC to provide more detailed mapping information on BC STV and the question is being put to the electorate again on May 12th. The BC Greens are supporting BC STV in this election. There is a low level of awareness regarding this referrendum and the BC Liberals have decided not to send the Citizens Assembly report out to all homes in BC. Thus, your involvement in spreading a message for change and getting involved in the BC STV "get out the vote" campaign is very important. Political pundits are not expecting BC STV to pass thus we need your help to exceed 60% support.

Stay abreast of developments at Facebook Group "Yes for BC STV - City of Vancouver"
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=37133867369

There is a Point Grey Wine & Cheese occurring on Sunday hosted by BC STV Vancouver Point Grey

St. Helen's Anglican Church ~ 4405 W 8th Ave. ~ Sunday, March 1, 7:00PM
Phone: 778-235-7477
Please RSVP to antony.hodgson@gmail.com

Please consider attending.

Georgia Straight Op Ed ~ http://www.straight.com/article-201581/single-transferable-vote-would-break-down-political-barriers-bc

3. Green Jobs
President Obama and begrudgingly Prime Minister Harper are speaking increasingly about Green Jobs.
See the report below and watch for the new Green Book which outlines BC Green Party's plan for green economic growth and job creation.

http://www.unep.org/labour_environment/features/greenjobs-report.asp

4. Vancouver Point Grey ~ Overview
We are currently interviewing Green candidates in Vancouver Point Grey.

The BC Liberals have alienated voters in Vancouver Point Grey with their UBC lands dealings and their Gateway program that inspires another generation of single occupancy vehicle cars. The BC NDP will struggle in Point Grey because they oppose the carbon tax for political reasons (e.g. "axe the tax"). Point Grey's well educated residents understand that peer reviewed studies support the carbon tax as it has worked in other jurisdictions around the world to reduce carbon footprints.

The BC Greens in Vancouver Point Grey are poised to build on the 15% support we gained in 2005.

I was the candidate in Vancouver Point Grey in 2005 but have decided to run in the new riding of Vancouver False Creek.
Mary McNeil is the Liberal candidate and the BC NDP have not announced a candidate in Vancouver False Creek. We are building our team and please reply if you can help in the Vancouver False Creek / Yaletown riding.

Thank you for supporting your local Green campaign and thank you for encouraging all your family and friends to participate in our provincal democracy by voting on May 12, 2009.

Sincerely,

--
Damian Ketttlewell
MLA Candidate Vancouver False Creek
BC Greens ~ Deputy Leader, mba
www.bcgreens.ca

facebook: join my supporters page
twitter: dkettlewell

Vancouver False Creek Goals
1. Reform Government ~ Vote Yes to BC STV ~ http://tinyurl.com/cubmwy
2. Build a New Economy ~ Make Downtown’s Economy the Greenest in North America
3. Care for Each Other ~ End Homelessness by 2017

Blog ~ http://greenpoliticsinbc.blogspot.com

Sing Tao Daily

2009-02-21
綠黨8人省選逐鹿溫哥華
Sing Tao Daily The BC Green Party is placing eight candidates to contest several ridings in the Greater Vancouver area for the upcoming provincial election. The leader of the BC Green Party, Jane Sterk, spoke with the media last Thursday along with the eight candidates and other party members. Sterk indicated that aside from focusing on the province's environmental issues, the BC Green Party also places high regard on economic development and law and order problems, such as the recent gang killings. As well, she believes that the 2010 Winter Olympics will bring business opportunities to the province. The eight candidates who will run in the Greater Vancouver region for the BC Green Party are: Vanessa Violini for Vancouver-Fairview, Damian Kettlewell for Vancouver-False Creek, Jody Emery for Vancouver-Fraserview, Ryan Conroy for Vancouver-Hastings, Doug Warkentin for Vancouver-Kensington, Revel Warkentin for Vancouver-Kingsway, Laura-Leah Shaw for Vancouver-Quilchena, and Drina Read for Vancouver-West End. More than half of these candidates will be running for the first time, and most of them have resided in BC for over ten years. They are all active members of the community.

Jane Sterk: It is time for a responsible government in B.C.

Georgia Straight ~ February 20, 2009

By Jane Sterk

The meltdown in the financial sector has sparked a dramatic shift in public policy. Deregulation and market reliance has given way to a significant increase in economic interventionism. Government spending is now all the rage. It hardly seems to matter how it is being spent, as long as it is being spent. Even deficit spending is now kindly referred to as “a stimulus package”.

The Gordon Campbell Liberals have also caught the spending fever. The party that previously called for prudent fiscal management and opposed deficit spending has changed its tune.

But why this shift? Why these panicked pendulum politics? And, more importantly, isn’t there a better way forward? Do we have another option?

The first thing to remember is that this budget is an election budget. What this means, to put it bluntly, is that it has been engineered from top to bottom in order to bring in more votes for the Liberal party come election-time this May. A couple things follow from this.

First, Finance Minister Colin Hansen has been putting forward a rosy outlook for British Columbia’s economy. This optimism seems to be somewhat unwarranted. It has been estimated that 2009/2010 income-tax revenue will be $650 million less than predicted and social-service revenue $350 million less. That alone takes the deficit to $1.2 billion.

There are some real concerns regarding our economy, and it is safe to say that, after the election, the government will be telling a very different story. Not long ago we saw this same political move at the federal level when the Conservative government rapidly shifted from a position of wild optimism to one of modest realism after the election.

Second, this budget is more rooted in reactionary partisan politics than in measures that will address the deep structural concerns within our economy. This Liberal government has jumped on the deficit bandwagon with little attention to where it is headed. There is little in this budget to indicate that the Liberals are serious about taking the steps needed to move us into a 21st-century economy that is sustainable and prosperous.

There is a better way.

There is a better way of doing politics and the Green party is offering a better plan for B.C. This plan offers us a new and better approach to deal with our economic downturn—one that moves beyond the “either/or” choice of either big-government centralized control or radically privatized decentralization. We Greens believe that both government and the nongovernmental sector have important roles to play in ensuring long-term prosperity in B.C. The challenge is to find the appropriate balance between the two.

I believe the core principles in this balance may with summed up with three R’s—responsible, respectful, and representative government actions.

Responsible: Government spending needs to be part of a long-term plan that is designed to ensure lasting prosperity. We need a budget that will make investments in programs that expand future technologies and jobs within B.C. This includes district-level solar, wind, and geothermal energy farms and well as education and technological research. These innovations will stimulate the economy, bring high paying jobs to the province, and keep intellectual capital in B.C.

Respectful: A respectful provincial government works in close cooperation with municipalities to facilitate healthy and robust economic development at the local level. This means ensuring predictable revenue flows are available to municipal governments through fewer restrictions on municipal taxation, not more. It means providing more grants to local governments with appropriate oversight mechanisms that ensure fiscal prudence across the board.

Representative: We need to move to the BC-STV electoral system of proportional representation. One of the best ways to get past the reactionary and divisive swings in B.C. politics is to ensure the political views of the population are accurately represented in the legislature.

The Green party’s plan for B.C. offers us an opportunity to find a more efficient, equitable, and stable balance. By choosing a steady path forward in this time of economic downturn—by electing Greens to the legislature—we can ensure a better future for B.C.

Jane Sterk is the leader of the Green Party of B.C.

BC Greens announce 8 Vancouver candidates

B.C. Green party names Vancouver candidates
By Matthew Burrows
The Green Party of B.C. will unveil tomorrow morning (February 19) its candidates for nine of the 11 provincial ridings in Vancouver.

The party’s candidates for the May election are as follows:

Vancouver-Fairview: Vanessa Violini
Vancouver-False Creek: Damian Kettlewell
Vancouver-Fraserview: Jodie Emery
Vancouver-Hastings: Ryan Conroy
Vancouver-Kensington: Doug Warkentin
Vancouver-Kingsway: Rev Warkentin
Vancouver-Quilchena: Laura-Leah Shaw
Vancouver-West End: Drina Read

B.C. Green leader Jane Sterk will attend the announcement outside the Coal Harbour Community Centre at 11 a.m.

Georgia Straight ~ News Story on BC Green Vancouver candidates
http://www.straight.com/article-201902/green-siren-targets-oppal-prohibitionist

Letter to the editor response

February 20, 2009

B.C. Greens offer the full package

The Green Party of B.C. announced eight additional election candidates last week. Our Vancouver candidates include engineers, transit operators, business people, arts specialists and community activists.

While we appreciate you announcing our Vancouver candidates, we take exception to your primary focus on cannabis prohibtion. The Green Party of B.C. introduced the concept of the carbon tax in 1996, introduced the concept of tax shifting to B.C. politics, and we continue to offer cutting-edge policy solutions that the Liberals and NDP often choose to adopt themselves.

In these times of economic uncertainty, we realize that B.C. voters will support the most economically-savvy candidates. Those with the best economic plans that preserve and create jobs will be elected. The B.C. Greens will present a better economic plan for B.C. that will create more green-collar jobs in renewable energy production, energy efficiency, and locally-focused markets. Ending homelessness, realigning our health care system to focus on prevention, and increasing the efficiency of education spending are other policy areas that the B.C. Greens specialize in.

The Green Party will field a full slate of B.C. candidates for the third election in a row, and we are poised for electoral success. At the request of our membership base, we are a strong advocate for electoral reform and BC-STV, as the Citizens' Assembly has indicated that it is fairer than the current system and offers more local representation.

While the B.C. Greens do indeed support drug reform and the end of prohibition of certain substances in order to reduce gang activity and create new tax revenues for our province, we are by no means alone in favouring such a policy stance, and this issue hardly defines the B.C. Greens, as your recent article suggests. The 2009 Green Book, to be released shortly, will provide details about the wide range of innovative policies that the Green Party will offer to British Columbian voters.


--
Damian Ketttlewell
MLA Candidate Vancouver False Creek
BC Greens ~ Deputy Leader, mba
www.bcgreens.ca

facebook: join my supporters page
twitter: dkettlewell

Vancouver False Creek Goals
1. Reform Government ~ Vote Yes to BC STV ~ http://tinyurl.com/cubmwy
2. Build a New Economy ~ Make Downtown's Economy the Greenest in North America
3. Care for Each Other ~ End Homelessness by 2017

Congrats to Liberal MLA Solicitor-General John van Dongen for Eamining Gun Contol Measures

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/suppliers+fi lm+industry+investigated/1238922/story.html.

Buy NDP MLA Mike Farnsworth a Smoothie for Restricting Body Armour Sales

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/story.html?i d=1212783

Dancing for Vancouver gun owners who question the need for a gun

http://www.theprovince.com/Restricting+guns+work/1233794/story.html