On Saturday evening at Collins Hall, Green Party candidate Dana Taylor told an audience of Bowen Islanders that his candidacy started in February, after he asked some friends who were members of the BC Green Party who would be running in the Sea to Sky riding in the upcoming election.
“The response was a candidacy package,” he said.
In an interview following the meeting, Taylor explained to The Undercurrent, that he was not previously a member of the Green Party or any other political party.
“I’ve been in the ‘green’ industry, working with early adopters of new technologies for more than a decade,” he says. “I always ask these people, plumbers and electricians and so-on, why they took the risk to change their businesses in this way and the typical response is always: it’s was time to walk the talk. When this opportunity came up for me, that’s how I saw it.”
Taylor says that when he started talking to the Green Party about running, it was clear that party members and supporters felt fatigue in the wake of the 2015 federal election.
“They spoke to a lot of people who voted Liberal just to get Stephen Harper out of office,” he says. “While a fear of strategic voting looms, I think things in this election are different, and I think in this riding especially we have a real shot at winning. I have just spoken to so many people who are deeply disappointed with the BC Liberals, particularly when it comes to things like donations. The Liberals, are always talking about how the NDP is going to ruin government and the economy - and then you have an analysis by Lindsay Tedds at the University of Victoria pointing to our platform as being the winner when it comes to economic policy. I think this makes us the clear alternative.”
When asked about the possibility of collaborating with the NDP, Taylor says that while he thinks the two parties are on the same page on a number of issues, he feels the NDP needs to re-invent itself.
“I’d say they are a spent force,” he says. “They used to align with the 40% of British Columbians who were union members, and that base no longer exists in this province. And also, where has the loyalty of the unions gone? The Iron Workers Union threw their support behind Christie Clark because the Liberals want to move forward on the George Massey Tunnel project, and that has caught a lot of people’s attention. The NDP are apparently the strongest force to contest the Liberals, but we’ll see when the votes are counted. I think we’re taking votes from both parties, at this point.”
Taylor adds that, at this point he does not have a clear sense about the first steps the Green Party would take if they took office.
“Right now, we’re just focused on getting to the finish line,” he says.
