A group of supporters with their placards smiled and waved at motorists near Juan De Fuca Recreation Centre in Colwood early Tuesday morning, Oct. 1.
This was how B.C. Greens started the day, a prelude to the party's announcement of its 2024 platform as the second week of election campaign gets underway.
In a press conference held at Swans Hotel in downtown Victoria, Greens leader Sonia Furstenau unveiled her party's platform with a commitment to do things differently by putting people first.
Their platform's vision is centered around well-being and consists of four parts: thriving people, resilient communities, a flourishing natural world, society and governance.
Black Press Media caught up with Furstenau after the announcement to talk about the party's platform and their campaign.
You were the first party to release their election platform today. What do you think makes your platform stand out?
SF: I think the biggest thing is the framework of it – a well-being framework and the inter-connectedness of the pieces of the platform. None of us exist in isolation.
We aren't separate from nature, from our built environment, from each other, so we need a view of governance that recognizes that connectedness and that's what this platform is. It's connected by that framework of well-being. But it also sees the connection between all the different aspects of our lives in our society.
What was the most difficult part about rounding up the principal goals in your platform?
SF: It started a lot bigger than it is, so getting it down to where it is right now and then recognizing again that it takes some courage to be so detailed and to have so much in the platform. I expect the other political parties will want to seize on one thing here or one thing there. But the platform is a holistic document because we are part of an interconnected and holistic world. And until we start seeing politics and government that way, we're going to be stuck in this place we're in. I want us to see that we can get unstuck.
You closed today's announcement calling for everyone to "campaign with love in our hearts." Why?
SF: I think if politics isn't inspiring, then it leaves people with fear and anger. Elections should be about an inspiring vision for the future. Today's platform really is for me and this team and I hope, for the people of B.C. a way to see a future that is healthier, more connected, more resilient, more hopeful and that it is rooted in a place that people know that government is doing its job.
Speaking of the government doing its job, you mentioned about being inspired by the well-being framework that New Zealand has implemented. Why is this an important aspect in your campaign?
SF: When I read the first New Zealand Well-being Report, what I was so surprised by was, how transparent government was with where it wasn't meeting the mark and then identifying how they were going to fix that. I think when we move to a place where we're measuring government, not on polls or focus groups but on, are they actually achieving the things that they should be, then the government rather than self-protective, is self reflective and will start to get to a place where people can feel that sense that government is working on their behalf.
You 're impassioned talk about establishing a vision for B.C. at a time when young people are facing huge challenges struck an emotional chord with the audience – got you emotional as well. Why do you think its important to invest in our youth?
SF: The most important investment we make as a society is to our young people. When we create the conditions where they're thriving – wonderful schools that they spend their days in, early childhood educators that are giving them the best start to their life of learning, healthy food, all the tools they need to be the learners of the 21st century and then the kids thrive on their parents feeling safe and secure. So we need to make sure that we're investing in the right places. And when we invest in young people, it benefits everybody.
The Greens are hoping to build 26,000 non-market housing units each year. Can you tell us more about that and how 3,000 of them will be dedicated for Indigenous people?
SF: I think that it's so critical right now that we create that amount of non-market, not-for-profit co-op housing for Indigenous people because it's a real reflection of system failure to see so many people unhoused. That's a failing of multiple systems. And so let's get those systems working again and let's make sure that we aren't abandoning people to conditions that none of us should accept as normal in any way. And we can do that. It's possible. I've seen the success of the village model in Duncan.
B.C. Greens' complete 2024 platform can be viewed here.
