Re: The column “小蓝视频 Greens Ghosted by their own MLAs” [published in The 小蓝视频 Feb. 6].
Rob Shaw, the 17-year veteran of political journalism, appears to have lost sight of the point of politics; properly, politics serves governance, not governance serves politics.
In 小蓝视频, the electorate has voted (twice) for the centrist Green Party, the only party to challenge status quo subsidies and expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure, to hold the balance of power in the Legislature. This is democracy.
Why would the Greens burden their two sitting MLAs to lead the party when it’s possible to elect a dedicated leader? Is there a dearth of possibility for bright candidates committed to facing the climate crisis? No. Should Jeremy Valeriote have to sacrifice the time to parent his young children in the name of political optics? No.
Neither does the statement, “disenfranchised environmentalists reportedly signed up enough new members to mount a creditable bid to defeat David Eby” accurately reflect the motivation behind the (democratic) attempt to elect Anjali Appadurai as a candidate in the NDP leadership race.
The point was to ensure that the climate and species extinction crises would be subject to debate. But her candidacy was disallowed by the NDP Chief Elections Officer, and former resource extraction lobbyist, Elizabeth Cull. So no democratic discourse, just politics.
Julie Malcolm
Squamish
