BC elections May 12th: how to cast your vote for the environment

Tuesday May 12th is the next BC Election Day, when British Columbians will go to the polls to choose their government to take them forward.

People in BC have expressed concern about the economy, jobs, development, and the environment, and how those matters are going to be dealt with after the election. At such a time of economic crisis in BC and across the world, naturally the focus is falling on the economy and jobs, but some outspoken environmental activists want people to stop and think about how their vote is going to affect the environment and what could happen to British Columbia.

Twyla Roscovich, 30, is one of those activists. She is an independent documentary filmmaker living on a sail boat off the coast of BC and has made it her mission to educate the people of the province about how to cast a vote for the environment on May 12th.

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BC for Sale

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A few months ago, she decided, along with environmental activist Alexandra Morton, that more awareness needed to be made about salmon farming in British Columbia and that if the Liberal government got in again, the implication for the environment would be devastating. "I want to do natural history and ecological films" says Ms. Roscovich, "but you can't ignore the politics and I'm going to lose my work if the Liberals get in again".

"I had to step up," she says, and with no funding, she made a video on her own of what was happening to the environment in BC, with the emphasis on oil development, salmon farming, privatisation of the publicly owned rivers, and the infrastructure that relies on the environment being clean and healthy.

"I just want to raise awareness", says Ms. Roscovich. "What's Gordon Campbell's slogan 'BC is the best place on earth'? Trouble is, they're trashing it".

According to the video, the Liberal government has not been as concerned about the environment as they claim to have been in the past, and have plans to further exploit the natural resources of the province without putting measures in place to protect it.

In the Provincial budget in February the Liberals did implement a carbon tax to take effect on July 1st, with the plan to cut carbon by 33 percent by 2020. They also were the first province to join the Western Climate Initiative, and they have invested more than $2.4 billion in clean power in the province. 

However, Ms. Roscovich claims that Gordon Campbell is not a green Premier and the Liberal government is not right for the environment issues facing the province, despite the fact that he started a carbon tax. "He wants to build a pipeline from the [Alberta] tar sands to the coast [of BC], which would release millions of tonnes of carbon and put the province at a high risk for oil spills", she states, and what is green about that?

The Liberals do have a environmental platform and they have protected land in BC from development, but Ms. Roscovich claims that much of what they are doing to hurt the environment is flying under the radar and residents won't know what could happen until after the election. 

"The biggest issue in my opinion is fish farming" she says, "and the Liberals ignored their own committee in 2007 about salmon farming and losing fish stocks, and they are still expanding the industry".

Ms. Roscovich wants the NDP to win the next election. She knows they are not perfect, but she believes they are the most environmentally friendly party to help protect what all British Columbians may take for granted until it is no longer there. 

"The NDP have promised to move industrial salmon farming to closed containment systems," she says, "and that is huge". 

This last weekend before the elections, Ms. Roscovich will be continuing to spread the word about casting an environmental vote, e-mailing as many people as possible and getting as much information out there that she can, so people can make an informed decision on May 12th.

"Just don't split the vote", she says.

In these elections, many people who want to vote for the environment, but don't necessarily know how, will vote for the Green party, as naturally, they are the most green. However, based on the current system of government, the vote is split between the Green party and the NDP party, and the Liberals could still get in. Ms. Roscovich says the only way to fix this is to vote for the NDP this time around as they are the best hope for the environment and they stand a chance of getting in.

"If there hadn't been a split vote in the US" she says, "Gore could have got in, but because of Ralph Nader, we got stuck with Bush.

The damage the Liberals will do if they get back in cannot be reversed", Ms. Roscovich warns. "It's just criminal".

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For more information on the environmental platforms for the major parties - some resources:

Calling From the Coast

NDP - environmental platform

Liberals - environmental platform

Conservatives - environmental platform

Green Party - environmental platform