Prior to the last election, I noticed that the Green Party was actively seeking people to run in BC municipalities, it makes sense after all, act locally, think globally is one of their catch phrases. They ran candidates in Burnaby and Vancouver electing Adrienne Carr as a Vancouver Councillor.
Of course, they will be trying to build on this and North Van may be an area where they will establish a legally registered elector organization. We will have Unite North Van registering with 4 candidates and perhaps a mayoral candidate. COPE will register also with at least one candidate. Mayor Mussatto will run his unregistered slate of NDP candidates and VOICES will register as "third-party advertising group" and pretend to endorse from the list of candidates but will endorse a pre-determined group of candidates running as a slate. Ripe ground for the Green Party to grow, an elector organization gets their party name on the ballot and one with the name that is both their message and the name of the provincial/federal party. With a list of probably 25 candidates for Councillor, a voter that comes in to vote for the one or two candidates they actually know, may just vote for candidates running for an electoral organization (Party) whose "brand" they are friendly to. Well, who among us isn't at least a little bit green friendly?
With the electoral experience of a provincial candidate, Ryan Conroy would be a good organizer for this movement and candidate if he makes that jump. Favourable to amalgamation as well. An NDP friend of mine told me "Mussatto will stop the Greens from running as they would reveal him to not be as Green as he likes people to think." I don't think he is right, the NDP/Green split is very tangible and Ryan doesn't seem to me like someone who can be bullied.
It looks like our low voter turnout that results from a lack of choice for the voters is going to change in 2014.
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