Hoping to bring their principle-based party policies to provincial government, Green Party of B.C. leader Jane Sterk rallied support Saturday afternoon during a stop in Courtenay.
In front of a crowd of about 20 at the Florence Filberg Centre, Sterk reviewed the 10 principles of Green Party politics, and how they differ from other parties.
“The policies of the Liberals and NDP are not that much different. (They believe) in a growth-based economy in the service of big entities ... big unions and big corporations. Our social and economic policies sit within the ecological limits of the planet; everything works together,” she said.
Sustainability, social justice and grassroots democracy are only three of the 10 policies in which the party is based on, explained Sterk.
The others are non-violence (the party does not support war), a community-based economy, gender equality, bio-diversity, de-centralization, personal and global responsibility and ecological wisdom.
“As Barack Obama said in his speech, we have to live up to our children’s expectations. We have to look up to to other species. We are proposing bold and achievable goals,” she noted.
Sterk said the party believes it is important to rethink what it means to be a community, and examine what is in the best interest of a community.
“Climate change, pollution and health — there’s a direct correlation. The more we poison the earth, the more we poison ourselves,” she added.
Sterk noted the Green Party would work across party lines to succeed, rather than “spend their time ... talking about how bad each other party is.”
During the 2009 election, the Green Party of B.C. received more than 125,000 votes, or about eight per cent of the popular vote.
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