Rob Botterell will be running for the B.C. Green party in the upcoming provincial election.
In and of itself, that is not particularly noteworthy as a provincial news item; with an election happening on or before Oct. 19, candidates are surfacing across British Columbia on a regular basis.
But Botterell may have more eyes on his candidacy than many of his peers. As the Green candidate in what has been the Greenest of B.C. ridings, he may also be carrying the weight of party's continued relevance as it fights to retain a foothold in the B.C. legislature.
A retired lawyer who has worked with First Nations and helped draft privacy legislation, Botterell steps in the public spotlight, tasked with holding one of two ridings in B.C. that elected Greens in both 2017 and 2020.
He will represent the party in Saanich North and the Islands, following the footsteps of Adam Olsen. Olsen announced in June that he won't be seeking re-election for personal reasons. He had first won the riding in 2017 on his way to becoming one of B.C.'s most prominent MLAs.
Saanich North and the Islands is what Botterell calls a "double-Green" riding because its federal Member of Parliament is none other than Elizabeth May, who has become in many ways synonymous with Green politics in Canada.
"Yeah, everybody's watching, but that's a good thing," Botterell said. "I'm really comfortable with the fact that I can represent the riding and represent the constituents and be a strong voice in the legislature. So it will be up to the voters to decide, but I think what I bring will be something that's consistent with what made Adam a highly popular MLA in this riding."
Botterell, who currently lives on Pender Island after having lived in Sidney and North Saanich, won the nomination last week ahead of Stuart McKinnon and Amy Haysom.
Olsen first won the riding in 2017 with almost 42 per cent of the vote, almost 12 percentage points ahead of New Democrat Gary Holman, who won the riding in 2013. Olsen then increased its share of the vote to almost 52 per cent in 2020, more than 20 percentage points of New Democrat Zeb King.
But Olsen's departure means the riding lacks an incumbent, opening up possibilities for other parties that likely did not exist beforehand.
For governing New Democrats, it represents a chance to reclaim a riding and tighten their control of Greater Victoria. For the opposition parties on the right side of the political spectrum, it represents a chance to make inroads in the region, as the riding has had a history of electing right-of-centre candidates on both the federal and provincial level prior to Greens securing both the federal and provincial seat for the area.
More broadly, the outcome in Saanich North and the Islands could also be read as a test of how far environmental messages matter in provincial politics.
Botterell said he expects both provincial New Democrats and the upstart provincial Conservatives, who have nominated David Busch, to run "very strong" campaigns.
He added that Olsen must have drawn voters with a history of having voted for New Democrats and Conservatives based on his margins of victory.
"I think they are both equally a threat and we will be working hard to demonstrate how my approach and position on issues will differ from both the NDP and the Conservatives because at the end of the day my job is to represent all constituents. Adam has been very successful in that and I plan to follow in his footsteps."
With the provincial election, little more than two months, Botterell said his focus between now and October will be to work "tirelessly" to keep this riding "double-Green" by introducing himself to voters.
"I think it's a real beacon for the rest of the province," he said.
It could also help determine whether the B.C. Greens will retain their party status. Current rules require two MLAs for official recognition as party.
B.C Greens Leader Sonia Furstenau has switched her candidacy from Cowichan Valley north of Greater Victoria to Victoria Beacon-Hill in the heart of the capital, a seat currently held by provincial cabinet minister Grace Lore.
This means that Cowichan Valley will also be a riding without an incumbent.
Cammy Lockwood is running for the B.C. Greens. Lockwood is facing John Koury of the Conservatives, Debra Toporowski of the New Democrats and Jon Coleman of B.C. United.
As the election approaches, B.C. Greens are looking to round their field of candidates for the 93 ridings across B.C. They have so far 23 announced candidates — the least among the four parties represented in the legislature last session.
Furstenau said Monday (Aug. 12) the party has a "whole slew of announcements coming very soon" when asked about the number of candidates.
"Of course, I would like to everything to move as fast as possible," she said. "I do go back to 2020 when we got 77 candidates nominated and on the ballots in 11. So I know we have the capacity to really step that up."
Leading the race to nominate candidates is the Conservative Party of B.C. with 78 candidates as of information received by Black Press on Sunday, Aug. 11. As of Aug. 8, the B.C. NDP has so far announced 70 candidates, B.C. United 57.
—with files from Tyler Harper
