Dear Editor:
It seems to me that strategic voting is dead in BC, especially when we face the choices that we have in front of us: either the Black Cats (Liberals) or the White cats (NDP). So, what is a little green mouse to do? (By now, you may recognize the old Tommy Douglas fable.)
Neither the NDP nor the Liberals present any real opportunity for real change, and change is what we need to prepare us for the future. The NDP thinks real change is $10/day childcare, no bridge tolls, LNG, and a carbon-based economy. This is just distraction by the white cats.
The Liberals think real change is, well, more of the same: LNG, pipelines, flooded agricultural lands for energy, and a carbon-based economy. More distraction by the black cats.
Our two star candidates in Columbia River-Revelstoke represent parties that are not that different from one another, and they are each playing on our fears to have us vote strategically for them – both of them cats.
If we are to prepare for the change that is coming, we need to elect representatives who understand that the world is in a state of rapid transition today.
We need serious action on shifting to a non-carbon economy, climate change mitigation, education investment, reinvestment in our communities, and bringing an end to corporately subsidized political parties. There are many, many issues that need to be addressed and I would encourage you to read all the party platforms and see how they measure up to the challenges we face today!
We need to give our heads a shake on the left, and on the right, so that people who value sustainability, battling climate change, and building a genuinely green economy can be heard in government. So really, I am not talking left or right anymore, I am talking green, and we need to be able to say it loud and proud.
For all you green mice, don’t vote against something – vote your conscience; vote for an emerging green economy; vote for sustainable communities – vote for the BC Green Party.
“My friends, watch out for the little fellow with an idea.” – Tommy Douglas 1961
Paul Denchuk
Invermere, BC
