The BC election will be called, officially on April 11, but campaign season is already underway and all three candidates for the West Vancouver Sea to Sky riding have been announced. Liberal MLA Jordan Sturdy will run against Dana Taylor with the Green Party and Bowen Islander Michelle Livaja, running for the NDP, and Liberal Jordan Sturdy, the former mayor of Pemberton, will run for a second term.
Last Sunday, Sturdy held his first official campaign event on Bowen Island. He noted that the West Vancouver Sea to Sky riding is large and very diverse, but there are a few key issues that unify it.
“Transportation a critical piece, combined with housing,” he said in an interview following the event. “With all the development coming to the region, we need to be creating complete communities. The province plays a big role in that, just think of what Squamish would look like if not for the upgraded Sea to Sky highway?”
Michelle Livaja, a Bowen resident of 17 years who commuted for years to her job with the BC Nurses Union says the opportunity came up, and she decided it was time to fight for change. She says that while she definitely identifies with the rural communities in the riding, she has a strong relationship with labour movement and also has a relationship with the business world, siting previous employment with Electronic Arts and other companies.
“I would say that this riding, with similar diversity is a microcosm of the province as a whole,” says Livaja. “Right now, we are really only hearing the voice of the business community and that needs to change. It is getting harder and harder to live in BC and that’s bad for everyone, business included.”
Dana Taylor sat on council in North Vancouver from 1983 to 1987 is currently the Executive Vice President of the Mechanical Contractors Association of BC.
“This riding is big and diverse, incumbency always has the upper hand in those kind of situations. But there are a lot of people who are not very happy with the Liberal government,” says Taylor. “The one that stands out the most to me is the fact that campaign contributions seem to line up pretty tightly with the businesses the government seems to be serving. It’s politics for sale. I would never say it’s a slam dunk, but I entered this race to put an alternative in front of people and I get the feeling that they’ve been wanting it for a while.”
