It ain't easy voting Green
The Burnaby Now is reporting G. Bruce Friesen is going to be running in Burnaby-Deer Lake, the riding formerly known as Burnaby-Willingdon.
Friesen will be up against tw0-term incumbent BC Liberal John Nuraney and former Burnaby Citizens' Association school board chair Kathy Corrigan. This should be a tight race between the Liberals and NDP as the Campbell government will want to hold onto everything it has and the NDP see the seat as a big win in what tends to be a bellwether riding.
The Green Party has likely gotten it wrong again. The party that is now led by the extremely low profile Jane Sterk needs to focus on a few key issues - being the voice of the environment, progressive change, and an alternative to politics as usual.
Instead, they have a candidate who is best known for writing partisan letters to the local paper. For years, Friesen has railed against the BCA at city hall. Maybe the new politics for the Green Party is to be like the old parties that are able to win seats. Divisive partisan politics should make the next few months interesting in the newly named district.
Friesen will be up against tw0-term incumbent BC Liberal John Nuraney and former Burnaby Citizens' Association school board chair Kathy Corrigan. This should be a tight race between the Liberals and NDP as the Campbell government will want to hold onto everything it has and the NDP see the seat as a big win in what tends to be a bellwether riding.
The Green Party has likely gotten it wrong again. The party that is now led by the extremely low profile Jane Sterk needs to focus on a few key issues - being the voice of the environment, progressive change, and an alternative to politics as usual.
Instead, they have a candidate who is best known for writing partisan letters to the local paper. For years, Friesen has railed against the BCA at city hall. Maybe the new politics for the Green Party is to be like the old parties that are able to win seats. Divisive partisan politics should make the next few months interesting in the newly named district.
posted by Robert Burnaby at 3:46 PM
29 Comments:
Bad move for the Greens. This guy screeches about almost everything in his peripheral vision. not much there to like about him, and the voters might as well vote NDP if they don't want Nuraney back as MLA.
Agree. Forget this guy and choose either Nuraney if you want the same old same old dusty BC Liberal or Kathy Corrigan if you want a socialist representing Burnaby.
He's obviously not a real Green.
Can't see the forest through the trees and most likely uses bleached toilet paper and doesn't have free range organic eggs next to the veggie / tofu patties on the plate in the morning.
Burnaby is about to become the FLORIDA SECOND COMING the BC 2009 version.
"Agree. Forget this guy and choose either Nuraney if you want the same old same old dusty BC Liberal or Kathy Corrigan if you want a socialist representing Burnaby."
Very much true. We all know that BURNABY IS GOING TO DECIDE THE NEXT ELECTION. NDP needs to flip 5 ridings and 3 of them are right here in Burnaby. But despite some NDP voters being so naive that they are the "only" alternative, that is very much not true.
Why would GRN decide to run themselves against NDP and LIB? Could it be the SUV that Carole James drives? Could it be that they decided to support LIB carbon tax over NDP? Or could it be that they just dont care and want to marginalize themselves even further, further than possibly the Marijuana Party whose principle of pot legalization may look more moderate than what GRN is gonna come up with.
But GRN is the least of Carole James' worries. Let us not forget that Carole James is also going to compete votes with the Communist Part and trying to distinguish herself from the communists may not even be that easy.
What matters however will continue to be the economy. No, NDP may have the upper-hand in the campaign for "change", but they certainly dont have the upper-hand in the economy. Many people have assailed BCA which came to power with a slim majority within 20% of the city voters and to think that slim margin will extend all the way to Victoria is as I have repeated many times, naive. And in this instance, trying to choose between the "same old same old" government that prided themselves on economic growth vs. a socialist representing the riding may not be so difficult after all.
With the above negative comments from the usual NDP flunkies already trying to spin this thing, I would suggest Bruce Freisen will be a strong candidate for Green values. Good for him. He has long been a opponent of both the NDP and the BCLP.
Why should it matter if he has taken hard positions against the local NDP municipal farm team? Cathy Corrigan has recently graduated from school board to the provincial arena- why not Bruce?
He will be an articulate candidate.
The idea is to bring forward an environmentally friendly list of policies, not get into screeching wars with the other parties.
The voters know what's wrong with either the BC Liberals or the NDP.
Bruce isn't going add anything new to that.
A voter supporting Green will want to see environmentally friendly policies, not some idiot who spends alot of time screeching about civic politics.
The NDP competing against the Communist Party for votes? That's laughable since the Communists rarely run candidates at the provincial level, and none of them ever get enough votes to get their deposits back.
"he idea is to bring forward an environmentally friendly list of policies, not get into screeching wars with the other parties."
That is true. Let us admit it, GRN is only going to eat into NDP's vote shares and had it not been GRN in 2000 (Ralph Nader who received 10% of the national votes) Bush would never become the president. But as much as NDP may hate it, this continues to be a democracy.
So I say NDP need to start campaigning and stop worrying about trying to compete for votes with the Community Party and the Green Party both of which remain legitimate political parties. If Carole James cant even convince these to vote her, what possible qualifies her to lead the province. None possibly.
That is why I would encourage GRN to run 82 candidates across BC and let the voters decide which party is most competent on the grappling issue of economy. If I am to make that choice, it should be simple, and I too like my Green friends probably will opt out of a socialist government thank you very much.
Friesen is a wonderful and committed candidate, but that doesn't mean he's going to win.
He'll peel a few votes from either side and earn more votes than my pal Joey Shithead, but he'll still be third - unless something truly disastrous befalls old Johnny boy and he ends up at the bottom of the totem pole.
The new MLA will be Kathy.
One down. Four more to go.
"That is true. Let us admit it, GRN is only going to eat into NDP's vote shares and had it not been GRN in 2000 (Ralph Nader who received 10% of the national votes) Bush would never become the president. But as much as NDP may hate it, this continues to be a democracy. "
True and it does let junk candidates like Friesen run for the entertainment value.
"So I say NDP need to start campaigning and stop worrying about trying to compete for votes with the Community Party and the Green Party both of which remain legitimate political parties."
The Greens are far more respected than the Communists.
If Carole James cant even convince these to vote her, what possible qualifies her to lead the province. None possibly.
Just as qualified as Gordon Campbell was when he became leader of the Opposition Liberals or Bob
Skelly when he was leader of the NDP.
That is why I would encourage GRN to run 82 candidates across BC and let the voters decide which party is most competent on the grappling issue of economy. If I am to make that choice, it should be simple, and I too like my Green friends probably will opt out of a socialist government thank you very much.
Your choice. Then your choice would be to vote for John Nurnaney.
Friesen is a wonderful and committed candidate, but that doesn't mean he's going to win.
The simple thing is, he won't. He doesn't have much to offer the voter other than his trademark screeching and cranking out letters to the editor.
An MLA is much more than that.
He'll peel a few votes from either side and earn more votes than my pal Joey Shithead, but he'll still be third - unless something truly disastrous befalls old Johnny boy and he ends up at the bottom of the totem pole.
John will most likely lose, but It will be interesting to see how Friesen does. He should get enough votes to get his deposit back, if he starts to smarten up and be more respectful of others with differenting opinions.
He also has to offer something positive to the voters.
He also needs to be Green. He should lose the bleached white toilet paper and start with the tofu burgers and organic eggs with soy milk.
The new MLA will be Kathy.
One down. Four more to go.
I'd say good.
"True and it does let junk candidates like Friesen run for the entertainment value."
Hmmmm... sounds like the kind of comment that someone who has never done anything in their own lives would write. I would bet you have never even lived outside of Burnaby.
'An MLA is much more than that.'
Oh really? Just how does an MLA start out? I He also has to offer something positive to the voters.
would suggest identifying issues to speak about? Things that various levels of Gvt are lacking or doing poorly ... that sort of thing.
"He also has to offer something positive to the voters."
I guess you have missed his letterson the need for social housing, honest government, green technologies, and STV.
Maybe you are the one who is shrill and partisan rather than Bruce F. Why does his running bother you so much?
"Oh really? Just how does an MLA start out? I He also has to offer something positive to the voters."
Yeah right. He hasn't been postive
very much. Always complaining.
would suggest identifying issues to speak about? Things that various levels of Gvt are lacking or doing poorly ... that sort of thing.
Big deal. Any candidate can do that.
"He also has to offer something positive to the voters."
I guess you have missed his letterson the need for social housing, honest government, green technologies, and STV.
Yawn. Hasn't offered anything new
or innovative on any of those subjects. How could anyone not miss his letters. They are far too long and very wordy.
Maybe you are the one who is shrill and partisan rather than Bruce F. Why does his running bother you so much?
It doesn't. This guy is only going to end up being entertainment at an
all candidate's meeting.
Can hear the moderator at the all candidate's meeting when he looks at Corrigan, Friesen and Nuraney
to direct them to their chairs..
"Jokers to the right, clowns to the left.."
In 2005, someone decided to put in a Green candidate in Burnaby Edmonds in hopes that it would split the vote there, diminish the
NDP, and end up with Patti Sahota being re-elected.
Didn't work. Sahota lost her seat and the NDP won it.
Pure genius.
This Friesen guy is going to be entertainment and will probably result in the NDP winning the Deer Lake seat.
Maybe the Green vote draws more from the Lib side than the NDP. In many way sit is a protest vote against an incumbent. I can see Bruce hurting Liberal chances of retaining Bby Willingdon.
Q- What kind of fascist would try to dictate what a political candidates can or cannot eat, or what kind of toilet paper they use?
A - Sounds like the 'national socialists' are at it again.
Everybody march in step.
If Friesen thinks he is Green, then he should have been a Green person a long time ago, not one of recent convenience.
Many Greens use bleached toilet paper and when they go camping, rip-stop nylon tents overlaid with blue plastic tarps can be seen everywhere. Just look at those protest camps. Not a natural cover over the tents at any of them.
A few Greens can be found at the local McDonalds loading up on fries and a Quarter Pounder with Cheese. Few go for the really Green things such as tofu, soy milk or free range organic eggs.
Won't even get into the campaign office yet. Plastic hydrocarbon based copying systems, carbon spewing, carbon stained Volkwagen van, bleached office paper, petroleum based felt pens,
people wear chemically dyed jeans
and shirts..
Q- What kind of fascist would try to dictate what a political candidates can or cannot eat, or what kind of toilet paper they use?
A - Sounds like the 'national socialists' are at it again.
Wrong. If a person like Friesen is going to be Green, walk the walk, not talk the talk.
Seems to many he is just being a Green candidate for convenience rather than really believing in what the Greens stand for in terms of environmental (not politics) policy.
and do the members get to choose between him and someone else or is there some backroom fascism going to ensure he is the only candidate?
Who ever wrote this 'national socilaist' crap in support for Friesen should also want a real democratic meeting where the members get to choose between him and someone else.
But this reads like another backroom boy session going on, this time within the Green Party.
Same backroom boys, different room.
Agree. If Freisen can't win a strong multi-candidate nomination contest, he's not going to be very useful as a candidate out there during the provincial election.
Being a candidate with nothing more than writing letters to the editor and a name on a sign isn't good enough.
Have to have what the membership and supporters want to see in a good candidate too.
"Agree. If Freisen can't win a strong multi-candidate nomination contest, he's not going to be very useful as a candidate out there during the provincial election."
To you may be but not everyone's goal is the same. Some people are just there because they crave publicity, clown or no clown. And BCGRN, like the communists, are just there to make a point. And sometimes it may even be personal, like how Bruce feels towards the mayor and his wife guilty by association.
But hey, it is after all a democratic system. Election is simply a platform for communists, greens and socialists like the Corrigans to have a chance to contest against the government. And I would certainly welcome more competition if they think the can form a better government with their own ideology.
"To you may be but not everyone's goal is the same. Some people are just there because they crave publicity, clown or no clown. And BCGRN, like the communists, are just there to make a point. And sometimes it may even be personal, like how Bruce feels towards the mayor and his wife guilty by association. "
If that's true, then he isn't being a purpose candidate for the Greens. He's not doing the Greens a favour by getting into opposition to the Mayor and his wife. He should be focusing on advancing Green Party initiatives not continuing his screeching against Corrigan or anyone else he doesn't like.
But hey, it is after all a democratic system. Election is simply a platform for communists, greens and socialists like the Corrigans to have a chance to contest against the government.
So what happened in 1996? Gordon Campbell had his chance to contest against the government. Gordon Wilson the same thing in 1991. The commonality between the two? Both BC Liberal Party leaders.
And I would certainly welcome more competition if they think the can form a better government with their own ideology.
Which leaves someone like Friesen out as a serious candidate for sure.
Face facts. this clown is just running for the publicity.
Very true. Candidates like that are entertainment. Not much in the way of being considered seriously
as a voting option.
He doesn't seem to come across as a real Green Candidate. He's running to be a screeching voice against the NDP in Deer Lake.
As someone mentioned in regards to the candidates such as Kathi Corrigan John Nuraney and Bruce Friesen at any all-candidate's meeting..
"Jokers to the right, clowns to the left."
Burnaby Willingdon 2005:
Lib - 44%, NDP 42%
Burnaby Deer Lake 2005 vote transposition 2005:
Lib - 51%, NDP - 41%
Provincial Result 2005:
Lib - 46%, NDP - 42%
Yesterday's Mustel poll:
Lib - 47%, NDP - 33%
Greens take 3 NDP votes for every 2 Lib votes.
Result of Burnaby Deer Lake in 2009? Lib hold.
What's with the lyrics from the 1972 Stealer's Wheel song "Stuck in the middle with you"?
Sounds like a rallying cry for the Liberals!
(Either that, or is the NDP is trying to moderate its position.)
The NDP will definitely pick up at least one seat in Burnaby.
But Richard Lee will be stronger than ever, and there is a chance that Harry Bloy might NOT run again.
Does anyone know about Harry's 'health issues' that were reported last year?
AND - doesn't Chouhan live in the new Lougheed riding?
Bloy versus Chouhan would be fun.
Harry had a bit of a cardiac problem.
The guy needs to check into an anger management course. ANyone who has gone through as many Constitency Assistants as he has definately has a problem.
But bloy vs. Chouhan would be fun.
Trademark Punjabi short tempers against someone who is always mad at something means more explosions than you'd see at a rock slide removal site.
It's amazing that when the polls are in favour of the Liberals we see this jumping up and down in happiness (or as if they have had one too many Monster energy drinks) but when the polls favour the NDP, the polls are always said to be not important.
"But bloy vs. Chouhan would be fun.
Trademark Punjabi short tempers against someone who is always mad at something means more explosions than you'd see at a rock slide removal site.
It's amazing that when the polls are in favour of the Liberals we see this jumping up and down in happiness (or as if they have had one too many Monster energy drinks) but when the polls favour the NDP, the polls are always said to be not important."
I too would say so, ,however Raj Chouhan has a much lower profile in Lougheed riding than Harry Bloy that is for sure since Raj barely beat Patti Sahota in a riding that should have very strongly favored him (the socialist half of Peter Julian's riding). But it will not be the first time that NDP politicians have decided to switch ridings, Gabriel Yiu for one who has decided to chicken away from contesting against the mayor's wife, Raj possibly for two, and three we all know who she is. There is a reason that BCNDP continues to poll below 50% and I do welcome BCGRN to join in the mix as they are actually racing well against BCNDP in the poll. Maybe it is time for a new opposition party like that one that arose in Quebec.
It however is looking like that the economy will be the next big issue which BCNDP will not be able to even touch Gordon Campbell. As for Carole James' SUV, I dont have much to say than that BCGRN is certainly not the "tree-hugger" branch of the socialist party.
I see Bruce Fis being trashed because no one ran against him for the nomination. Did anyone run against Cathi Corrigan? for her nomination?
Also doe anyone know who is running for the NDO in Bby North? Has a nomination even bee called for? Very strange to have it so late. Bloggers who suggest Richard Lee will be stronger than ever have not looked at what he lost and what he picked up in the redistribution. He may win again but it will be very tight. Have any names been mentioned for the GPBC in Bby North?
In Burnaby North, Richard Lee lost roughly just over 100 net Lib votes after boundary changes in 2009. Won't make much of a diff.
Mondee Redmond is the NDP candidate in Burnaby North.
I see Bruce Fis being trashed because no one ran against him for the nomination. Did anyone run against Cathi Corrigan? for her nomination?
Has anyone put their name forward to contest John's nomination?
Fascist control on nominations everywhere.
Also doe anyone know who is running for the NDO in Bby North? Has a nomination even bee called for? Very strange to have it so late. Bloggers who suggest Richard Lee will be stronger than ever have not looked at what he lost and what he picked up in the redistribution. He may win again but it will be very tight. Have any names been mentioned for the GPBC in Bby North?
Richard is going to loooose.
"I see Bruce Fis being trashed because no one ran against him for the nomination. Did anyone run against Cathi Corrigan? for her nomination?"
Other than BCNDP people who are crying foul, especially given the recent poll which has set back Carole James' quest for power for likely another decade, no is is trashing Bruce. The are just trashing the greens out of fears. And Kathy was coronation for obvious reasons. We all know that BCGRN will lose badly, but it is their decision to run candidates against the government and Kathy Corrigan and I say we let democracy do its work.
As for other NDP candidates out of school council, I wonder why Ron Burton has not called on Harry Bloy's head. Funny, a long time school trustee could not wrestle a homemaker like Kathy for the chair, and still couldnt against another rookie for the chair, and he wants to go to Victoria? Does it not look like another quest for power or what?
I say welcome to the big league to Kathy, Mondee, and probably Ron. But unfortunately, as much as Kathy wants to be the next Minister of Education, if these people cant call the shots for economy, they may soon have to be schooled by the BCLIB incumbents. And given the background of these NDP prospects, it does look like a wipe-out if Burnaby voters decide to concern themselves with the issue of economy.
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