To the Editor,
Re: Apathy won’t cool my election fever, Opinion, March 30.
I appreciate the vision of those younger members of society, including Melissa Fryer, for paying attention to elections. The only truly wasted vote is the vote not cast.
While I agree with her article, I wish to clarify one misleading statement: “the Greens and the NDP will still fall to the left of the spectrum ...”
It is a common myth, especially popular amongst the NDP, that Greens are left-leaning. While there are many Greens who are decidedly left-leaning, just as many are right-leaning, and most embrace both.
We can value the importance of individual accountability and independent thinking (right wing) while also valuing the importance of working together, freedom of labour, and meaningful incomes for all (left wing). After all, the left-right dichotomy has been around for less than 200 years.
I believe most people are tired of the dramatic see-sawing between the right and left that has marked B.C. politics for too long.
Researching the numbers after the last provincial election revealed that more former Liberals switched to Greens than did the NDP. This may be even more true in the upcoming election as Greens offer many policies that appeal to more progressive Liberals.
And many Greens who strategically voted NDP in order to prevent the Liberals from winning may now feel free to vote according to their conscience.
Ian Gartshore
Nanaimo