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Green comes to UNBC

Photo By Colleen 0’G

Adrianne Carr of the BC Green Party spoke to UNBC students
about Green issues and to urge for proportional representation in
BC elections. She was invited to UNBC by the Political Science

Student Association.

By Stephanie Wilson

On November 14, Adrianne
Carr told all in attendance at
the Winter Garden that the
future of the BC Green Party
is “very bright” She, of all
people, should know that. In
the 2001 provincial election,
she led the Greens to what
could be considered a victory
for the so-called fringe party.
Popularity for the Greens
rose from 2% to 12.4% dur-
ing the campaign, with the
majority of Green supporters
falling into the age group of
18-24. One of the reasons for
that significant increase in
support is the realization that
the Green Party is not a one-
issue party. People are
beginning to realize that the
Green Party is more than
tree-hugging.

A big issue for the Greens
right now is the idea of pro-
portional representation, a
system of government repre-
sentation that gives party rep-
resentation based on the per-
centage of votes a party
receives. “Every vote ought

to have a direct link with
those who are being elected.
proportional representation
will even out the playing
field,” said Carr. The idea of
proportional representation,
which is used by countries
such as New Zealand and
Australia, will be taken up in
the Legislature on Tuesday,
November 20.

Other issues addressed by
Carr include a turn from
genetically modified foods
(GMOs) to organic alterna-
tives and mandatory labeling
of all food products that con-
tain GMOs. The Federal
Government recently
opposed a bill for mandatory
labeling, but Carr feels that
with the efforts of those at the
grassroots level, changes
can be made. The Green
Party is also pushing for the
improvement of wind, tidal,
wave, and micro-hydro ener-
gy production technology.
How does she propose to
find people to get this done?
“We have to invest in higher
education.” In fact, she is will-

ing to go as far as suggest
free post-secondary educa-
tion, based on the European
model which provides free
education provided the stu-
dents work in their country for
a set amount of time.

The Green Party may hold
an unpopular view of the soft-
wood lumber tariff issue, but
they do have a point: “Our
wood has been subsidized. If
we pegged stumpage to sale
price, the US wouldn’t be
able to levy duties.” However,
she maintains that there
should be a ban on the
exportation of raw logs and
bulk water.

The Green Party has
grown _ significantly, and
Adrianne Carr believes that
we will be seeing more of
that. If you would like to help
the Green Party collect signa-
tures for their petition to bring
proportional representation to
BC, call 1-604-886-9399 and
leave a message.

Transit Strike Walk

Students Protest Strike By Making the March From Pine Center to CNC

By Colleen O’Grady

On Wedesday, November
14 Paul Nettleton Liberal MP
of the Prince George-
Omineca riding led a transit
protest walk from the transit

loop at Pine Centre mall to
CNC. Among groups repre-
sented at the walk were peo-
ple from the mental health
association, senior citizens
and students from both CNC

Liberal MLA Paul Nettleton talks with affected transit users, assur-
ing them that they have his support.

and UNBC. Many of these
people had to carpool or pay
taxis to get to Pine Centre for
the 10 minute walk. Before
the walk two taxis pulled up
and people got out. The costs
for the taxi rides were $5.80
and $7.25. The impression
given was that these were
fixed income _ indviduals.
Imagine doing this everyday.
Wettleton was asked if he
had actually spoken to either
the union or transit manage-
ment. He said that he hadn't
but was planning a meeting
for early this week with other
MP’s and with a member of
the northern caucus, and
Roger Harris, who also
attended the walk. The
importance of the walk was
reflected in the people that
attended. On the way to CNC
there was one small lady

Students, seniors, and other fixed income individuals take a walk
to CNC.

screaming at the top of her
voice “We want the buses!”
Most of the people who
showed up cannot afford
other means of transporta-
tion, because of fixed
incomes, and this can mean
the difference between being

able to socialize and getting
groceries or not. The
urgency of this was also
brought to the forefront, not-
ing that it is November and
the nice weather will probably
not hold.