Jessica Wegg: Green candidate for North Island-Powell River
Politics

Wegg named Green Party candidate for North Island-Powell River

CKTZ News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Human rights lawyer and climate activist Jessica Wegg will be the Green Party candidate for North Island-Powell River during the next federal election. 

Photo credit: Jessica Wegg and her son visiting the provincial legislature – courtesy Jesica Wegg

A late summer or fall election?

“We can’t keep having 40 degree summers in Comox, or wildfires destroying towns. There were tornadoes in Washington DC yesterday. It is so obvious, so apparent and completely unsustainable. And I need to know that I did everything in my power to make it better,” she said. 

According to Philippe J Fournier, of Macleans Magazine and the website 338Canada, the rumours swirling around Ottawa suggest the election will be in late summer or early fall.  

“Crunching the numbers over the weekend, the only question that kept popping in my head is: Why?” he wrote. 

Recent polls suggest that if the election were held now, there would be another Liberal minority government.

Support for Greens on Vancouver Island

The most recent 338Canada’s projection was made a week ago, at which point the Greens were leading in two Vancouver Island ridings: Saanich-Gulf Islands (a safe seat) and Nanaimo-Ladysmith (where they allegedly lead by a mere 1%).

During the weeks leading up to the last Federal election, 338Canada’s projects often showed the Greens leading in four of the seven island ridings. North Island-Powell River wasn’t one of them, but in late August they were shown within 5% of the leading NDP. This groundswell of support disappeared in the week prior to the election and two Green MPs went to Ottawa. 

338Canada’s projections showed the Greens at their strongest in late August 2019, when they were in striking distance of taking 4-7 seats. In September, there was a Conservative surge (blue) but the NDP came back taking 5 of 7 seats. The most recent 338Canada projection shows support for the Greens currently down. Chart by Roy L Hales.

“I know that the Green Party made a strong showing in the last election and that was with people from the NDP telling them that they were going to split the vote, and it was a wasted vote. Making people think they would have to vote orange, otherwise the Liberals or Conservatives were going to win,” said Jessica Wegg.

“People can’t be afraid anymore and I think they are seeing that. We have to focus on what is in our hearts and what we know. I think people are ready to do that.”  

She pointed to the number of young families that moved to the island because of the pandemic. Many no longer tied to big offices, they are working from home. 

“Parents know what their kids need and their kids need a safe habitable planet, at a very basic level. I do think the Green Party’s prospects are quite good because we have more young, engaged, voters,” said Wegg.  

Jonathon Little, Jesscia Wegg and their children – courtesy Jessica Wegg

Why Jessica Wegg is running

“It’s not only about environmental issues although for me, right now, on the other side of this horrific heat wave where people died: the environment is first and foremost on my mind. But that certainly is not the only thing. What we need to realize is the Green party has been here this whole time, trying to get attention on these issues … The other parties are sort of along for the ride.” 

The other issue Wegg mentioned was Truth and Reconciliation. 

“Right now, we are still on the truth part. We cannot move forward from what most of Canada is just waking up to. A lot of people knew that it was there. Most of us didn’t know how bad it was. We need to learn and appreciate and hear the truth of what happened, and then we need to work on reconciliation,” she explained. 

A more detailed examination of Green policies will follow after the writ is dropped.  

Her Legal Career

Jessica Wegg was born in Calgary, but her family moved to rural America when she was 12.  She has been a lawyer since 2009. Her first job was in a firm defending insurance companies in lawsuits brought by individuals, which “really was not a good fit.” Wegg went out on her own and started representing employees in workman’s compensation cases. 

“In 2011 I started working with Jon Little, who is now my husband, We worked on cases of sexual abuse in elite sport and we still do that. My main area of practise was prisoners rights and doing civil rights cases on behalf of incarcerated individuals. Mainly, those cases were about not getting adequate, or any, medical care.” 

She is still working on an ‘excessive force case,’ in which police shot someone in his back yard. 

Jessica and her dog – courtesy Jessica Wegg

Moving Back to Canada

She has family on Vancouver Island, moved here briefly in 2014 and has long planned to return on a permanent basis.

Wegg was pregnant when Donald Trump was elected. She and her husband were very concerned about the direction America was taking. They crossed the border into Ontario so their daughter could be born in Canada. 

“We applied for my husband’s permanent residency and got that approved. We listed our house. Everything was just a waiting game, we were waiting for the universe  to tell us now is the right time for you to take a leap and move …” She explained. 

George Floyd was murdered on May 25, 2020. Wegg’s law firm offered pro bono representation to anyone arrested for peacefully protesting in Chicago or Indianapolis. Their tweet went viral and hundreds of people responded. Jon Little also started getting threatening phone calls from people angered by this initiative. 

“He got one phone call that gave him our home address, said ‘we’re coming for you’ and shouted profanities at him. I was worried for my kids … so I took them to my parents house until the situation calmed down,” said Wegg. 

The move to Comox

That summer Jessica and her husband moved to Comox, in what she describes as ‘the most special place I have ever been’ (Vancouver Island). They have two children, aged 4 and 8.  She is the Parent Advisory Council secretary for her son’s school and Vice-Chair/Secretary of the Courtenay-Comox Riding Association for the BC Greens. 

Jon Little is returning to the United States this month, to defend the last of his clients from that pro-bono offering

As regards Wegg’s legal practise in BC, she started working with Mark Stevenson at Aboriginal Law.

“I didn’t get my license transferred to BC until the beginning of January, it came from Ontario, but even before that I was looking for ways to volunteer or engage. I was really interested in Indigenous legal issues,” she said. 

Wegg has been investigating the laws that First Nations implement after their treaties go into effect. Why did they choose this law? Was it necessary? 

Jessica Wegg and her children – courtesy Jessica Wegg

Q: What do you offer the people of North Island-Powell River? 

“A promise to only act in ways I know in my heart are necessary and what we need to do. I can offer new hope. I can offer something different. What has been happening, isn’t working. Nothing has changed. We need to have people who will stand up: who will not be bought off by corporations; who will not allow propaganda to permeate their riding; who will acknowledge that their constituents are intelligent enough to see the science and know they want a better world for their children,” said Wegg.

“I do not know a single parent who would not want that for their child. We need to start having politicians who act like parents. Who act like what happens next is important and not just how can I make myself look better.”  

Links of Interest: 

Top photo credit: Jessica Wegg: Green candidate for North Island-Powell River – courtesy Jessica Wegg

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