The Jack Etkin Discussion
A long-time activist who believes in democracy, social justice and protecting our environment, Etkin lives in Victoria and works for a non-profit organization teaching English as a second language to people moving to Canada. He has a strong interest in economic systems that work for people and has been active in the environmental movement for many years. Etkin has been a member of the Green Party off and on since the 1980s. He has also been a member of the NDP, and even the Progressive Conservative party, which he joined to support the leadership campaign of David Orchard.
Press contact: Jack Etkin, 250-721-1682
Website: www.jacketkin.net
July 25th, 2007 at 7:30 am
What would your response be as leader of the Green Party of British Columbia to the ‘open letter’ to not run a candidate in Saanich and the Islands? Do you agree with Christopher Ian Bennett’s response?
Here is a link to the article:
http://www.greenerpolitics.com/2007/07/16/green-candidate-will-run-despite-none-of-the-above-letter/
July 26th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Hi:
My opinion is that members have the right to say and do as they wish, including asking the party not to run a candidate. And the membership has the right to agree or disagree with that request. It’s really an interesting question with a lot of twists and turns that can lead to different answers depending on the circumstances perhaps.
The fundamental problem is of course our flawed electoral system that gets us into this situation every election. We have got to change that asap, not because it is good for the Green Party but simply because we Canadians should have the right to come up with a better electoral system if we want to - and here in BC we have already voted for change by 57% to 43%. Unfortunately, in our corrupt democracy, 43% wins.
I am quite annoyed at the NDP provincially who had 10 years in power to bring in a better system, and the Liberals have had decades federally - and they have all done nothing.
Jack