Next I met with John Weston, Conservative. John likely is a nice
man, but it was very clear to me that he is under pressure from his
party and likely the Weston family, to restrain from supporting wild
salmon too strongly. He would not say he would protect them from the
salmon farms. I could be wrong, but I don't think this is where his
heart is. He appears to be a man who follows orders well.
As we drove to Squamish I took the coastal route and saw the
extremely wealthy neighbourhood there. This riding seems unfairly
divided.
The people of West Vancouver may have very different needs and
aspirations than the people of Squamish and Powell River and then there
is the highly transient community of Whistler in the mix. I wonder how
the more rural communities feel represented?
We had lunch at the Brackendale Art Gallery, where I received the
Honourary Order of the Eagles Lifetime Achievement Award. Thank you Tor.
I met Dan Veniez the Liberal candidate at the Quest University. Dan
seemed well-informed and he would get salmon farms out of the ocean, but
Dan is an angry man.
Brennan Wauters was at the Quest U. candidate meeting as well. He is
the Green Party Candidate for this riding.
Brennan is someone I think
we are all going to hear more about in the coming years, if not sooner.
He has a strong vision on the precariousness of our current economic
situation, wherein we appear to be in econmic health but in fact are in
structural deficit.
Brennan sees the environment as integral to the
economy, whereas the conservatives hold a fatal viewpoint that it is a
luxury item we the people don't really deserve. Brennan knows how to
use the social media and makes himself extremely available for dialogue
on his website.
We visited some spawning channels in the area that John Weston was
very proud of, but I was horrified. They were choked with algae and
while there was a nice viewing platform built the view was of a place
salmon eggs must have suffocated over the winter.
My sense of this election is that people need to be brave enough to
trust themselves and trust the candidates that listen to them. The
Conservatives are distant, their campaign appears to be run from Ottawa,
they are difficult to find and contact in most cases. Kerry-Lynne
Findlay seemed to say she would protect wild salmon from salmon farms,
but so many people have written me to say they heard different at the
All Candidate meetings that I have written to her to get her to clarify.
I think people vote Conservative because they don't trust their own
judgment as to what their communities need.
