By Amy Chen
62% of those who voted for the BC Greens at Tuesday’s provincial election would be happy with their party forming a coalition with the NDP, while only 45% would be happy if leader Andrew Weaver sided with the BC Liberals, according to an Insights West poll[1]http://www.insightswest.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/BCElectionExit_Tables.pdf
.
The survey also found that 78% of all respondents, regardless of the party they voted for, would welcome banning corporate and union donations to parties.
89% of the voters support balancing the provincial budget, 84% support establishing a ministry responsible for mental health and addictions, 82% support banning grizzly bear trophy hunting in the province, and 59% support adopting proportional representation, the poll found.
“Voters of all political stripes are urging whoever forms the next government to take action on issues such as mental health and big money in politics,” Mario Canseco, Vice President, Public Affairs, at Insights West, said. “There is also an appetite for electoral reform, particularly from those who cast ballots for the New Democrats and the Greens.”
Both the BC NDP and BC Greens made banning corporation and union donations to political parties a key platform promise.
The two parties also agree on banning the grizzly bear trophy hunting and adopting proportional representation.
“Weaver needs to act fast By joining forces with the NDP in ousting Christy Clark,” Gladys Tuchak Hills, from Comox said. “Then moving forward with Horgan in their campaign promises of proportional representation, keeping big money out of politics and Kinder Morgan just to begin.”
“The Liberals have ignored British Columbians in so many years,” Hills added. “NDP and Greens see themselves as the people’s parties the Liberals not so much. 60% of voters want change, so, let’s make it happen quickly. Time is of the essence as we are reaching that place of no return for the environment. Let BC be leaders and show the world and Federal government how it’s done.”
Jeff Doncaster, a British Columbian currently living in Calgary, Alberta, shared Hills’s sentiments.
“I guess this is where you find out if the Greens are worthy of voting for in the future,” Doncaster said. “Do they use their swing vote for the people or just join the gang and start thieving like the rest? They could really prove themselves with just one vote and that would be to side with the NDP on a bill to end unlimited corporate sponsorship of parties.”
“The BC Green members voted into the Legislature now have to warrant the trust and hope that their supporters placed in them by doing more than their leader has for the last four years,” Glenn Garry of Victoria said.
Garry’s wants the Greens to do so by bring legislation:
1) Revoking BC’s approval of Kinder Morgan;
2) Cancelling Site C;
3) Banning the practice of Fracking in BC;
4) A moratorium on any new LNG development;
5) Banning corporate and union donations to political parties;
6) Providing large grants to homes/businesses for conversion to green power sources (which will drive jobs);
7) Providing large grants to homes/businesses for energy conservation (more jobs);
8) Changing building codes to the ‘Passive House’ standard (more jobs again); and,
9) Requiring a rising percentage of cars/trucks sold in BC to be zero carbon emitting vehicles.
“Should the new Green members fail to walk down this road, they will be ‘outing’ themselves as ‘green washed BC Liberal candidates,” Garry added.
The preliminary election results proved inconclusive with BC Liberals winning 43 seats, BC NDP 41, and the BC Greens 3.
44 seats are needed to form a majority government in the 87 seat legislature.
The margin of error is for the survey of 673 British Columbian adults who voted in the 2017 provincial election is approximately plus or minus 3.8 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.
References [ + ]