Re: “Unimpressed with Mungall and Weaver,” Letters, Feb. 6
A reader challenged my use of the phrase “colossally useless and stupidly executed” when I described B.C. Green leader Andrew Weaver’s plan to win proportional representation by a referendum in B.C. as his major priority in exchange for support of the NDP. I stand by my words.
Here is Maclean Kay writing in The Orca at the end of last year: “Above all, Weaver wants to be known as someone ‘who gets shit done.’ I can tell you this with absolute confidence, as he used this phrase three times …Whether he wants to be remembered for it or not, Weaver has done something remarkable, building a credible, functioning provincial party from the ground up.
“‘It’s really been really tough with the Green Party,’ says Weaver. ‘Probably, the most difficult part is the level of political naivety. I see it all the time as I see these incredibly well-meaning Green supporters on Twitter who are … I mean, it’s a lovely level of naivety. … but it’s a bit like the Christians being fed to the lions.’”
It could not be clearer. Weaver was never really Green. His own priority is not the environment or climate. Proportional representation is not the highest goal for a Green Party leader, but it is his. He knew this reform could also help any new, small party get a start in BC. He might have a plan to start a new party, in my estimation. He prefers to be an independent, that is clear.
Weaver did not get the NDP to give ground on any significant environmental projects such as Site C, or the LNG northern pipeline. He is not a Green in his deepest values. So he aimed at a goal Greens don’t hold as their highest purpose (i.e. “use”); he planned something of less usefulness to Greens than to his own agenda. He was stupid in how the campaign for reform unrolled, doing little to counter the deep resistance to an electoral system change. Gordon Campbell’s poll on PR garnered 57 per cent support, with no party pushing one side.
Weaver will soon sit as an independent in the legislature. Premier Horgan, watch your back. Weaver is not reliable.
Charles Jeanes
Nelson