Bill Green, who has been a Green Party supporter since 2000 and ran in the 2011 election, will be running against current Member of Parliament (MP) for the Kootenay-Columbia riding David Wilks and NDP leader Wayne Stetski in the 2015 federal election.
Despite the Green Party coming in third in the 2011 federal election, Kootenay-Columbia Green Party candidate Bill Green says the chances of the Green Party winning shouldn’t be underestimated in the upcoming federal election.
“There’s several issues that I believe passionately in and I think are important to this riding,” said Green, adding that the issue of democratic reform and creating a parliament that works better for Canadians is at the heart of his platform. “A key part of that is having an MP who believes that an individual MP can make a difference.”
Green noted that he also plans to address the climate change issue, which will entail ensuring there are green, sustainable jobs available in the region.
“I think our global labour union leader said it best, which is that there are no jobs on a dead planet. We can talk about how important jobs are, but in the long term we have to have a planet that can sustain jobs and sustain people,” said Green.
A biologist and manager who has lived in the riding for over 20 years and is the founding director of the Canadian Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fisheries Commission, Green said we need to continue to build a green economy, greens jobs and green infrastructure in our riding.
He also noted that another challenge he’ll face is keeping youth in the region.
“That’s a challenge throughout the riding and we think the scene of green jobs and a green economy is the way to do that,” he added.
Green jobs would include mining reclamation and sustainable forest management, Green said.
Green also stressed the importance of green municipal infrastructure, stating, “All the communities within this riding have aging infrastructure, it needs to be replaced and we need to make those investments in ways to improve our environment.”
On a national level, if elected, Green hopes to re-build Canada’s international relationship with the Middle East through peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance.
“We have so lost sight of that and that is a huge Green Party focus. We think international relationships and our relationship with the global community is going to be an important issue in this election,” he said. “We’re going to be focusing on rebuilding Canada as a force for peace.”