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Upstart Green party making major inroads in Nanaimo area

May 10, 2017 | 4:33 PM

PARKSVILLE — A huge splash by the B.C. Green party on Vancouver Island didn’t pay off with any mid-island seats, but the numbers show the party’s popularity is surging locally.

The B.C. Green Party tripled their number of MLA’s to three (all on southern Vancouver Island) and more than doubled their amount of overall votes to 301,000 and counting.

Parksville-Qualicum Green candidate Glenn Sollitt told NanaimoNewsNOW while he was disappointed not to take his riding, he was proud of what they accomplished province-wide and locally.

“Andrew (Weaver) led a really good, very positive campaign provincially that was reflected in all of the individual ridings and certainly was in Parksville-Qualicum.”

Sollitt said he was happy with his vote count (7,671), especially since the Greens didn’t run a candidate in the riding in the 2013 vote.

“In hindsight, yes 7,600 votes is extremely good, I just wish we knew who they were.”

Sollitt said knowing who local Green supporters are is important in creating a base to build from.

“Our database of known provincial supporters in Parksville-Qualicum was zero and you need to identify your supporters and make sure they get out to vote, that’s how you win an election.”

The Greens increased their number of Vancouver Island votes by more than nine per cent compared to 2013, while the Liberals and NDP both lost around four per cent of support on the island. Nanaimo Green candidate Kathleen Harris earned 4,899 votes, nearly double 2013 results.

In the Nanaimo-North Cowichan riding, Green candidate Lia Versaevel saw support for her party grow by 10 per cent compared to 2013.

Retired Vancouver Island University political science professor Allan Warnke said the Greens sent a strong message on election night.

“The Green party is not just a fringe party that’s putting in some reputable numbers, now they’re at a point where they’ve elected three and were very competitive in a number of other ridings.”

Warnke estimated the Green party likely made a difference in helping to elect 13 Liberals.

The 52-year-old Solllitt said he’s unsure if he’ll run for the Greens in the next provincial election, but vowed to support the party in some capacity.

“Frankly I have to go get a job, I have to do something that actually pays the bills.”

 

ian.holmes@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @reporterholmes