British Columbians have long stood out for their environmental values. The environment almost always ranks high in polls of our concerns, even when economic times are tough. We’ve fought for the highest proportion of land protected in Canada, and demanded among the strongest action on climate change.
We have much to be proud of on this front, especially since all of these gains have come because British Columbians have fought—hard—to achieve them. However, even though British Columbians care strongly about our precious environment, we rarely ever get a government that shares those values.
It’s a conundrum that’s puzzled many people working to save the environment: how can our governments be so consistently brown when the electorate remains so strongly green?
The coming weeks hold an extraordinary opportunity for environmental voters to vote with their values and shape the future of B.C.’s political landscape.
In response to this, some of us in the environmental movement are getting organized. Conservation Voters of B.C. has a mandate to help elect those candidates, from any party, who will be champions for the environment. We believe strong voices for the environment need to show up on both sides of the legislature and in all parties if we want to raise the bar for sustainability over time. CVBC is a nonpartisan, volunteer-run organization.
In the past few weeks, CVBC and other environmental groups have been reaching out to supporters throughout the province to let them know that we have an unprecedented opportunity to be part of choosing two leaders who, between them, will likely be premiers of this province for up to the next 10 years.
The last provincial election saw a record low voter turnout—only 50 percent of us eligible to vote decided to make the effort. A key reason for this level of apathy is a feeling that the political options we face, particularly those likely to form our “winner-takes-all” government, don’t speak to the things many British Columbians care about.
To address this, CVBC is encouraging people to help shape the options you will face in the next election in 2013 by voting in one of the leadership selection processes. By raising the degree of our political engagement and getting involved in the current leadership races, we can help give the environment the attention it deserves and that the majority of us support.
This is where your vote will have the most impact. In the last provincial election 1.5 million people voted, yet in the leadership selection process turnout will be measured in tens of thousands.
Youth, a segment of the population famously left out of the democratic process, also find themselves included in this unprecedented opportunity to choose the next premier. While they cannot vote in a general election, party members as young as 12 in the NDP and 14 in the Liberals can vote in the parties’ respective leadership races. I encourage them to do so—it’s their futures that are most at stake.
Party membership is viewed by some as an endorsement of everything the party—or its leaders—stand for. It doesn’t have to be that way. Long-term membership in a party you believe in can be a valuable way of participating in our political process. For others, it can also be viewed as a short-term opportunity to directly choose the decision makers who will shape B.C.’s environment. Memberships can be cancelled at any time. And as for the next election—your vote is still your own to direct to the candidate or party that best represents your values.
Conservation Voters can help in making your leadership choice. We will be reporting on responses from all candidates—from both parties—to a set of environmental questions we have been sent to them. We’ll make other information and analysis of environmental positions available as we get closer to selection dates.
CVBC is urging those with strong environmental values to not let this opportunity go by. With both parties facing leadership selection, it almost doesn’t matter which one you’re a member of: now is the time to make sure your green values result in votes for a candidate that will best represent them in our government—government or Opposition caucus.
Go to the Conservation Voters of B.C. website for more information and to sign up to receive updates and information on both leadership races. What are we waiting for? Change won’t happen without our involvement.
Naomi Devine is a director of the Conservation Voters of British Columbia and a former director of the B.C. Sustainable Energy Association.
