After a strong showing in 2019, the 2021 election seems like a step backward for the Green party, but Jessica Wegg is already talking about the next election.
“There is too much at stake for us to loose hope or lose sight of that the goal is,” she said. “I think Vancouver Island is uniquely situated for Greens to do very well.”
This was shown in 2019, when both 338Canada and CBC’s Poll Tracker showed them leading in four Vancouver Island ridings throughout most of the campaign and at one point the Greens were within 5% of the leader in North Island-Powell River.
What went wrong this time?
- internal divisions within the Green party, which could not be resolved in time for this election.
- COVID made direct communication difficult – everyone is tired of virtual conferencing and people do not have the emotional space to process what is still happening.
Wegg says people should vote Green because none of the other parties are taking the Climate Crisis seriously enough. She pointed to the NDP’s failure to commit to cancelling the Trans Mountain pipeline, a project the Liberal government is supporting.
“If you are not ready to commit to bold measures like that, then you should get out of the way and let the Greens come in because we are taking this seriously,” said Wegg.
She said one of the most concerning results of the election was how well the People’s Party of Canada did: “It shows that people are getting more polarized.”
“We need to keep talking to each other,” Wegg stressed.”This is the only way we are going to solve any problems. I think one of the strengths of the Green party is that we do try to remember to hear all the sides of the story because you cannot bring people on board with you to really affect change if you are only bringing the people who would come anyway.”
(The Liberal and Conservative parties have also been asked for post election interviews, but have not responded. You can access the NDP incumbent Rachel Blaney’s interview here.)
Links to statistics referenced in the audio but not the text:
- election day tally on Cortes Island, published in the Cortes Marketer
- Elections Canada data from previous elections
- August 25, 2019 data showing Greens leading in 4 Vancouver ridings and 4.8% behind Rachel Blaney in North Island-Powell River
- Oct 15, 2019: Chart drawn up from 338Canada and CBC’s Poll Tracker data showing the Greens leading in leading in four ridings
Top photo credit: Screenshot of Jessica Wegg taken during this interview by Roy L Hales
Sign-up for Cortes Currents email-out:
To receive an emailed catalogue of articles on Cortes Currents, send a (blank) email to subscribe to your desired frequency:
- Daily, (articles posted during the last 24 hours) – cortescurrents-daily+subscribe@cortes.groups.io
- Weekly Digest cortescurrents – cortescurrents-weekly+subscribe@cortes.groups.io