Elizabeth May, co-Leader of Canada’s Green Party, will be the guest speaker at the North Island-Powell River riding AGM in Campbell River this Saturday, May 6, 2023.
This is the first riding in Canada to announce its candidate for the next Federal election. Jessica Wegg (JW) was also the Green candidate for this riding in the 2021 election.
Cortes Currents asked her, “Is this meeting open to the public?”
JW: “Yes, it’s open to the public. If you want to vote on anything, you have to be a member of the Greens, but you can join today, or tomorrow. If you’re not a member, you can still come.”
“We’re very excited that Elizabeth May is coming. We’re really looking forward to seeing her and seeing everyone in person. Finally, it seems like we can connect with more people now that we’re further away from the pandemic.”
CC: Do you know what Elizabeth May will be talking about?
JW: “No, unfortunately, I do not know, but she is such a wonderful speaker. I’m really looking forward to seeing her again.”
CC: Do you want to share any thoughts on running again?
JW: “I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do with more time and more preparation . I’m excited to jumpstarted with this AGM and I’m really looking forward to meeting people in person. I think people are feeling energized. We’re starting to feel more strength within ourselves to affect change, and I’m excited to see where that goes. I was energized by the last election, even though I lost. It was a really wonderful experience and I’m looking forward to trying again.”
“Candidates all over Canada have been applying and going through the vetting process. It so happened that mine was the first to get through. So I will be the next candidate for the next federal election, whenever that may be, for the Green party for our area.”
The Discovery Islands tend to be more radical than the rest of our riding, or nation for that matter. The 2021 election was an NDP landslide. 939 people voted for the incumbent Rachel Blaney, more than three times what any other candidate received.
However, despite divisions within the Green Party and the persistent idea that if you do not vote NDP the riding will swing Conservative, Wegg placed second at 299 votes and ahead of both the Conservative and Liberal candidates.
The Greens did even better when they were united under Elizabeth May’s leadership in 2019.
CC: I’ve been watching the Greens not that long, maybe three or four elections, you always have an incredible potential – which has not yet played out in the end.
JW: “What is really going to help the Greens is more youth involvement and people seeing that as Canada unfortunately becomes more polarized with far right thinking and the far right creating an image of the left as well, that the Greens aren’t right or left. We’re, ‘let’s get together and move forward.’ We have to make some changes. There’s only one way to do it, if we all work together and there’s no reason to not do that.”
The North Island-Powell River Green Party AGM will be on Saturday May 6th from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM at the Maritime Heritage Centre in Campbell River.
Top image credit: Elizabeth May, co-Leader of the Green Party – courtesy Green Party of Canada website
Polling results are taken from North Island-Powell River’s 2019 and 2021 returns at the Elections Canada website.
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