WATCH: If you aren’t happy with what the NDP, Liberals or Green Party are offering in the upcoming election, there are several other parties looking for your vote. Ceilidh Millar reports.
As the race to the provincial election heats up, candidates like Leah McCulloch are giving a voice to voters vying for change.
McCulloch is one of two candidates on the Island running for the Conservative Party.
Until recently, the Conservatives ran several candidates in B.C. elections but there are only ten candidates this time around.
“Some people say they didn’t know there was a Conservative Party,” said McCulloch, who is running in the Courtenay-Comox riding . “There is some work we need to do to become better known. That’s going to be my job over the next four years whether I’m elected or not.”
A health professional for over two decades, McCulloch says her plan is to bring choice back to the citizens.
“We have a vision for the Comox Valley,” explained McCulloch. “I want this valley to be self-sufficient like it used to be. I want to answer the question of who does B.C. belong to. Does it belong to the citizens or does it belong to big business.”
‘We’re the vanguards of civil liberties’
It’s a sentiment echoed by another party – The B.C. Libertarian Party.
“We’re really the vanguards of civil liberties,” said deputy party leader Josh Steffler, who is running in the Esquimalt-Metchosin riding.
The B.C. Libertarian Party is the fourth largest party in the election, with 30 candidates across the province.
“If all of us were to win we could form the opposition,” explained Steffler. “We’re regularly being invited to debates instead of having to fight to be part of them. People want to hear what we have to say.”
One of their party promises is to repeal the carbon tax and allow private alternatives to services like ICBC and B.C. hydro.
“We believe consumers are the best and wisest deciders of their environmental dollars,” said Steffler. “We just want to get the government out the way.”
Forming our own government
Another party that wants to disrupt the norm is the Vancouver Island Party.
Richard Pattee, director for the Saanich Search and Rescue, is the VIP candidate for the Saanich South riding.
The party’s vision is to create a government on Vancouver Island by separating from B.C. to form our own province.
“We would be bringing direct democracy back to the people,” explained Pattee. “We would be listening to them more and holding more referendums.”
Pattee wants the Island to get its fair share of funding from the government to improve transportation and infrastructure.
“We would be looking at different representation then we have right now where we only get 16% of the vote,” said Pattee.
Pattee says if he isn’t successful on Tuesday, he has future aspirations.
“If you look carefully at my signs they’re designed as a ballot. I’m going to print ‘Saanich City Council’ and put those signs back up again when I run for city council in September.”
Other parties on Vancouver Island
Below is a list of other party candidates and independents running in select ridings on the Island.
- Seven candidates
- Four candidates
- Two candidates
- Two candidates
- One candidate
- One candidate
- One candidate
Eight independents
Ceilidh Millar
