Local Green candidates banking on steady support in B.C., despite slight dip nationally
Cheryl Matthew, Imtiaz Popat, and Mike Simpson are all Green Party candidates campaigning to stand out in crowded Metro Vancouver ridings.
Matthew, a member of the Simpcw First Nation, who consults Indigenous communities on territorial stewardship, is running in Vancouver East, against six other candidates, including the NDP’s Jenny Kwan.
“Part of what we’re doing with the Green Party is trying to put forward solid policy, and moving the conversation,” she said.
That sentiment also rings true for Popat.
A therapeutic counsellor who identifies as Muslim, queer, and non-binary, Popat is hoping to win a seat in Vancouver Granville.
The riding could see a tight race that includes the Liberals’ Taleeb Noormohamed, Conservatives’ Kailin Che, and the NDP’s Anjali Appadurai, who previously told CTV News she was greener than “most Green Party candidates.”
“They might be running a few star green candidates, but that doesn’t make them a Green Party,” Popat said of the New Democrats
Non-profit veteran and climate advocate Mike Simpson, in West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, where the Green Party candidate in 2019 had a strong third-place finish with over 22 per cent of the vote, says he’s running because he wants to send a message to Ottawa.
“Drop the politics, drop the infighting, and actually get along,” Simpson said.
“If anybody actually wants to take our (climate) policies...I couldn’t care less what the party colour is, I really couldn’t, or what the name is,” he added bluntly. “It doesn’t matter.”
The Green Party platform pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 60 per cent of 2005 levels by 2030, “with clear enforceable targets."
It's a plan which Simpson said is “locked to the science,” and which Matthew pointed out is a greater commitment than any other party.
“We’re the only party who’s committed to cancelling the TMX and other pipeline projects,” she said.
Pollsters like Mario Canseco, the president of Vancouver-based Research Co., questioned whether the Green Party might have trouble retaining some voters because nearly every other major party has also made firm climate commitments.
A recent Research Co. survey of decided B.C. voters showed support remaining steady for the Green Party in the province at seven per cent.
A Nanos Research poll conducted for CTV News and the Globe & Mail found support had inched upward during the campaign to eight per cent, while dipping nationally, from 4.3 per cent down to 3.7 per cent.
And earlier this week, former B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver appeared with Justin Trudeau in Richmond to endorse the Liberals' climate plan.
“I think this could play a major roll in the way people who are environmentally conscious are going to cast their ballots,” Canseco said.
But Matthew indicated the party was also getting attention in Vancouver East for its affordability platform, including the Green’s proposal for a guaranteed livable income.
And Simpson added that voters in B.C. seem to have a better understanding that the party operates with membership-driven policies, with more emphasis placed on individual candidates.
As the two Green incumbents in B.C., Elizabeth May and Paul Manly, fight to hang onto their seats, all three candidates who spoke to CTV News urged voters not to vote strategically, but instead, to vote with their conscience.
“I think minority governments are better: it forces governments to listen,” Popat said.
“The most strategic thing that people can do right now is vote Green right now so our voice is loud and clear and influential,” Simpson said.
The Nanos survey of British Columbians conducted from Aug. 18 to 22 had 221 respondents, with a margin of error of plus or minus 6.7 per cent, 19 times out of 20. The survey conducted from Sept. 10 to 14 had 300 respondents, with a margin of error of 5.7 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
Research Co.'s survey was conducted from Sep. 11 to 13 among 1,000 adults across Canada, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
There's actually no such thing as vegetables. Here's why you should eat them anyway
The rumours are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway.
BREAKING Israeli forces seize Rafah border crossing in Gaza, putting ceasefire talks on knife's edge
Israeli tanks seized control of Gaza’s vital Rafah border crossing on Tuesday as Israel brushed off urgent warnings from close allies and moved into the southern city even as ceasefire negotiations with Hamas remained on a knife’s edge.
The Met Gala was in full bloom with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Mindy Kaling among the standout stars
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
Mediterranean staple may lower your risk of death from dementia, study finds
A daily spoonful of olive oil could lower your risk of dying from dementia, according to a new study by Harvard scientists.
Winnipeg man admits to killing four women, argues he's not criminally responsible
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.
An El Nino-less summer is coming. Here's what that could mean for Canada
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
Man banned from owning animals after fatal Calgary dog attack
The owner of three Calgary dogs that got loose and mauled a woman to death in 2022 has been ordered to pay a $15,000 fine within one year and banned from owning any animal for 15 years.
Have you been removed from your family doctor’s patient list for visiting an Ontario walk-in clinic?
Some Ontarians are expressing frustration after they said that they were removed from their family doctor’s patient list for visiting a walk-in clinic in a process being called “de-rostering.”
East-end Ottawa family dealing with massive rat infestation
Residents in Ottawa’s Elmridge Gardens complex are dealing with a rat infestation that just won’t go away. Now, after doing everything they can to try to fix the issue, they are pleading with the city to step in and help.