Local Green Party candidates were celebrating their party’s surge in popularity province-wide, and in the local campaigns.
“I’m excited about the growth we’ve seen in the Green Party in the province and this riding,” said Alex Pope, who ran in Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows.
He increased his vote total from the last election, and when voters see the party getting more support, it adds to Green credibility, he said.
Across B.C., the Greens doubled their share of the popular vote to 16 per cent, and also jumped from a single MLA to three.
Pope had 3,010 votes for 12 per cent of the vote in Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows. In the 2013 election, Green candidate Michael Patterson had 2,178 votes for nine per cent.
Pope plans to run again, and said consistent, steady gains could one day see a Green MLA elected in Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows.
“That’s how you win in politics.”
Peter Tam, Green candidate in Maple Ridge-Mission, said his party will make even more gains by having three MLAs whose votes will be critical in the Legislature, due to the stalemate between the Liberals with 43 MLAs and the NDP with 41 – unofficially and before any recounts. As it stands, a Liberal minority government will need those Green votes.
“It’s quite significant that the three Greens will hold the balance of power, and it will put the Greens right in the mainstream,” he said.
Tam garnered 3,181 votes for 13 per cent in Maple Ridge-Mission. That was an improvement on Pope’s total in that riding in 2013 of 1,818 for eight per cent, when Pope ran in the other local riding.
Tam doesn’t believe the Green Party takes support away from the NDP only.
“We ran a really healthy campaign, and we actually stole Liberal votes,” said Tam. “The Greens had a realistic platform, a strong leader and some good candidates.”
He said people were happy to “vote for something, not against something.
“We have a vision, and we have principles,” he said.
A key Green objective will be to reform election spending, he said.
“Fixing the democratic process is the number one priority,” said Tam. “The next election may come soon, and it could be dramatically different.”
Tam has not committed to running in the future.
“Right now, I’m just going to take a break. It’s a big job,” he said.
Pope said he was not surprised by NDP first-time candidate Lisa Beare’s victory over Liberal incumbent Doug Bing.
“She’s going to be a good MLA,” Pope said of Beare.
“I was seeing a lot of growth in support for the Green party and the NDP,” he added.
“There are a number of local issues that people weren’t happy with what he did – like the homelessness issue.”