Pete ran on making Vancouver a city people can actually afford and putting affordability first in every decision.

That’s the same fight BC Greens are bringing across the province. Green politics aren’t just popular, they’re winning. Now it’s B.C.’s turn.🗳️

Advance voting is open now until Wednesday, Oct. 21.
 
📅Election day is Saturday, Oct. 24.
Believe in Better. Vote Green.

#BCPoli #VanPoli

From what I've read, municipal and provincial politics in BC are very different, and thus this post serves as my inquiry here.

David Eby called the election for self-serving reasons. Now, the Tories are going to sweep him out.

He has only himself to blame... yet, has the gall to blame the BC Greens for splitting the vote in a letter to voters. He claims Greens will bring the Tories to power.

And worst, he's putting into people's heads that the only valid way of thinking about politics is like the US two-party system and making Greens look "fringe". Oh, how convenient! It isn't like it has official party status in the legislature, and that it had helped them be in power in the first place under Horgan!

Well, I do not know how valid my comparisons are going to be, but in Vancouver, Pete Fry became its first Green mayor, sweeping Ken Sim and the right-wing ABC. He did so through the left consolidating around him, with COPE and OneCity dropping their candidates.

Now, that has reaped enormously. Greens, COPE and OneCity also nearly sweeped the city council, and park and school boards.

Why not a version of this in the province too? Either NDP and Greens having an electoral pact, or signal to voters to vote strategically to ensure the Tories don't get in? It isn't like the two haven't worked together before (though cooperation only happened after election through confidence deals).

Oh yeah, and of course, actually get proportional representation through. Really like having your majority governments? Too bad.

“For too long, our government has taken workers for granted,” said Lowan. “It has used the NDP brand as cover to enact an anti-labour agenda, evident in Eby’s BC NDP overseeing the longest public sector strike, and longest nursing strike, in our province’s history.”

“When we sat across the table from the BC NDP to try and re-negotiate a deal, we posed a fundamental question: which side are you on? That’s when we pushed for sectoral bargaining, a labour rights model developed by Vince Ready, the same labour mediator Eby has relied on to support his tense relationship with unions. When David Eby refused to support sectoral bargaining, we got our confirmation: he’s not on the side of the workers.”

The Baigent-Ready model of sectoral bargaining would allow unions to reach a collective agreement that covers all workers in a sector of the economy, rather than on a workplace-by-workplace basis.

“Working people are bearing a crushing affordability crisis, they need to be supported,” said Lowan. “The minimum wage is now more than $9 per hour lower than the living wage in Vancouver and Victoria — this is unacceptable. That’s why the BC Greens will increase the minimum wage annually, at a rate of inflation plus 1%, until parity with the living wage is reached. This is good for workers, good for our province, and builds the fair economy we all deserve.”

The BC Greens will:

• Increase the minimum wage annually, at a rate of inflation +1%, until parity with the living wage is reached.
• Implement a pilot model of sectoral bargaining following a modified version of the 1992 Baigent-Ready model updated to reflect the 2026 economy and job market. The pilot would focus on especially precarious workers with minimal access to traditional collective bargaining, including migrant care workers, retail and service workers, and fast-food and food service workers. 
• Expand BC’s successorship provisions to cover all workers who work in contracted industries when their business is sold or merged. 
• Reverse the NDP’s proposed direct delivery of refreshment beverages, which opens the door to the privatization of BC Liquor’s distribution centres and related work. 

Read our full labour policy on our website: https://bcgreens.ca/strengthening-of-labour-movement-pledged-by-bc-greens/

“The foundation of mental health rests on access to connection, belonging, and basic necessities like income, food, housing, and healthcare,” said Emily Lowan. “But in British Columbia, these foundations have been crumbling.”

“Families who’ve watched someone they love struggle deserve real solutions. But a correctional centre is not a healthcare facility, and B.C.’s Supreme Court has already found that our involuntary care laws need to change. That’s why the BC NDP’s announcement on yet another involuntary care centre yesterday was so troubling”

While nearly 47% of British Columbians who require mental health support are still waiting for help, the mental health crisis across the country is estimated to hold an economic cost of $180 billion. BC’s Mental Health Act has been critiqued as the most outdated mental health legislation in the country and contains an involuntary treatment approach that the BC Supreme Court has recently ruled as unconstitutional.

“Instead of updating a law that has been ruled unconstitutional, the NDP have chosen to rely on that law to target those in poverty who are facing mental health and substance use challenges,” said Lowan. “It’s hard to see the amount of suffering happening on our streets. It makes us feel powerless, frustrated, and fearful, because we don’t see any positive action from our government. The BC Greens believe that the resources we do have need to be directed toward evidence-based solutions that prioritize dignity, safety, human rights, and healing. The BC Greens believe in better.”

The BC Greens will:

• Act immediately to bring BC’s Mental Health legislation into compliance with the Constitution, including strengthening protections around consent, capacity, involuntary treatment, and independent oversight. 
• Integrate mental health as the fourth option in 911 emergency services to accommodate mental health crises that do not align with the traditional ambulance, fire or police options. 
• Include six visits annually to a mental health professional, such as a psychologist, under the Medical Services Plan (MSP), ensuring early access to mental health support for all British Columbians. 

Read our mental health policy on our website: https://bcgreens.ca/mental-health-reforms-pledged-by-bc-greens/