Region goes left
COMMUNITY: Cyclists race Windsor Park Sunday /A5 ARTs: Vaselka dancers bring witchery to stage /A10 sPORTs: Rock climbing nationals come to town /A13
Greater Victoria voters go against majority Page A3
OAK BAYNEWS Friday, May 17, 2013
www.vicnews.com
A one-man green machine
Andrew Weaver beams Tuesday night as he is declared the winner of Oak Bay-Gordon Head. The UVic climate scientist is the first-ever B.C. Green candidate to win a seat in the legislature. Sharon Tiffin/News staff
Andrew Weaver has made Canadian history and rescued the B.C. Green party, but Oak Bay-Gordon Head voters will now have a far more limited voice in the legislature
Kyle Slavin Laura Lavin News staff
G
ordon Head is the greenest neighbourhood in the country. Not only is the region represented federally by the first-ever Green MP Elizabeth May, this week Saanich and Oak Bay residents made history yet again, giving the B.C. Green party its first seat in any provincial legislature in Canada. Andrew Weaver, a University of Victoria climate scientist, defeated longtime Liberal MLA Ida Chong and NDP candidate Jessica Van der Veen in a riding touted as being the Greens’ best shot at winning a seat. Weaver held the lead from the outset, as votes came in Tuesday night. By the time the final votes had been tallied, three hours after polls closed, Weaver received 40 per
cent of the popular vote in Oak Bay-Gordon Head, more than 10 per cent (or 2,500 votes) ahead of the incumbent Chong, who finished second. “If you had asked me 10 years ago if this would happen I’d say you were absolutely crazy,” Weaver said Tuesday night during his victory party at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel. “I’m not going to come in off the bat making strong statements and policy. I’ve got to learn what the position is from the inside out, build strength in my voice getting a background of what’s there.” Weaver said he’ll spend the next few weeks understanding the legislative process, arranging staff and opening his constituency office. Dennis Pilon, associate professor of political science at York University and a specialist in B.C. politics, says despite the historical vote, Weaver likely won’t be able to
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Oak Bay-Gordon Head election results* n Andrew Weaver (Green) 9,602 (40%) n Ida Chong (Liberal) 7,124 (30%) n Jessica Van der Veen (NDP) 6,772 (28.1%) n Greg Kazakoff (Conservative) 455 (1.9%) *preliminary results
accomplish much in the B.C. legislature. “He could make the most of this or it could be a real disaster,” Pilon said. “Being a lone member of a party in the legislature can be very lonely. You don’t have a lot of power. It’ll depend on what kind of player he turns out to be. Is he the ego-driven Andrew first? Or is he really on side with
this Green party ‘I’m representing a movement of people’ thing? Time will tell. “His victory is an important psychological victory for the Green Party of Canada. The fact they’ve elected another (politician) is crucial,” he added. “They don’t want (Elizabeth) May to appear to be a one-off fluke, so I think this is very important for them.” Residents in Oak Bay-Gordon Head will go from having a cabinet minister to being represented by a one-member party in the legislature. Chong, who spent the past 20 years in politics – three as a Saanich councillor and 17 as an MLA, spent Tuesday night in a state of optimistic disbelief. The former accountant repeatedly told supporters, “It’s still early. It’s not over till the end.” PleAse see: Chong misses majority, Page A4
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