Oak Bay-Gordon Head

He was, in fact, the first member of the Legislative Assembly to represent the Greens.

in the riding of Oak Bay Gordon Head, and he ran against Ida Chong, who is the B.C. Liberal MLA, for Oak Bay Gordon Head to establish that beachhead in the legislature in the first place.

So for Andrew Weaver to now be running in Centre B.C., I couldn't tell you that Centre B.C.

is just the old Liberals, because it's clearly not, because Andrew Weaver was not in the B.C. Liberal Party.

Um, you know, somebody like Elenore Sturko is bound to have a, a better showing, uh, in Surrey than some of the candidates that Centre BC is running in other places.

Similar situation for Andrew Weaver in Oak Bay-Gordon Head.

You know, he's somebody who represented the area for years as a Green.

Uh, he'll be knocking on those doors, and people might be comfortable with the idea of not voting for the Greens, but voting for a person who they know and trust and who, who has, um, essentially represented them in previous occasions.

Victoria-Swan Lake, where they've got the chair of the Vin- uh, Victoria School Board, or, uh, sorry, um, Teachers' Association, um, who's running and has got a strong campaign there.

In Oak Bay-Gordon Head where they've got a local councilor, um, and an interesting vote split with Andrew Weaver r- running for Centre BC.

That's gonna be such a fascinating riding to watch, and that's a riding that's gone Conservative, NDP, and Green in the past.

Um, and then also in Langford-Juan de Fuca, um, where they've got a strong candidate in David Evans who ran last time and is, is well-known locally and, and well-liked.

They, for the moment, hold Saanich North and the Islands.

Have you made your decision yet? Are you thinking maybe you'll take a look at Centre BC? Andrew Weaver put a party on the map in terms of having its first seat in the legislature with Oak Bay-Gordon Head once upon a time.

Now, what was that, 13 years ago? How the time does fly.

Will he do it again? Sid Tobias also carrying the standard for Centre BC.

One of the two better known candidates representing Centre BC here on the South Island.

The other, of course, being Andrew Weaver in the riding of Oak Bay Gordon Head.

So it was earlier today that Screech found himself fending off a challenger, so to speak, Ryan Painter, who himself has governance experience, his time on the District 61 map.

board of education which his opponents coming up are going to be reminding him was a period that was not without controversy and also having to explain various political views that he has taken over the years and he's already explained this at great length including on an interview that he did with us he of course was an ndp supporter for many years more recently he has supported the Conservatives.

Here in the Victoria area, we haven't covered many of the press conferences yet for Centre BC.

Sid Tobias is running, former mayor of View Royal, as well as Andrew Weaver in the riding of Oak Bay-Gordon Head, among the noteworthy names that we're going to be watching.

Elenore Sturko held a press conference on Friday announcing the platform for Centre BC, and it sounded a lot like this as she came out making the argument in favor of-

Thank you for showing up today because we wanna show British Columbians that you shouldn't have to hold your nose to cast a ballot [laughing] in this election.

And I, I mean, I wouldn't count him out.

Anybody who counted him out last time was wrong.

Can he really do it twice? If there's anybody who knows how to put a party that doesn't have a presence in the legislature, in the legislature representing the riding of Oak Bay-Gordon Head, it's him.

So I'm gonna be watching that riding very closely, and we'll have to see what the people end up deciding to do.

But, I mean, these are all just moving numbers.

And I guess, uh, at those levels, there is the potential for one or two ridings to have a strong candidate, Andrew Weaver in Oak Bay-Gordon Head, that may influence things, but not, uh, a kind of provincial presence for those parties.

They're not part of the leaders' debate, uh, the televised leaders' debate, which is happening next week on the 14th, I believe.

It is.

Perhaps the one, or one of the issues that we're hearing in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, although that's not immediately clear to me.

The one concrete example that I did hear yesterday was Oak Bay Lodge, which of course the premier, um, mentioned that the MLA and the candidate for Oak Bay-Gordon Head, Diana Gibson, would be thankful for, given that she was at the press conference two years earlier in 2024 announcing the government's interests in moving it forward.

Family councils, uh, to, to highlight that this promise needs to be fulfilled.

Uh, Squamish is, is a growing community, has a huge amount of need for long-term care.

Always possible.

Although I, I will say, 'cause I don't wanna seem like I'm too cynical here, there's been a lot of speculation in the past as to whether or not the Greens would be able to take a second riding here on South Vancouver Island.

'Cause of course, Andrew Weaver had Oak Bay-Gordon Head.

We had Saanich North and the Islands with Adam Olsen once upon a time.

So just under two years ago.

There's a picture of then NDP candidate for the riding of Oak Bay Gordon Head, Diana Gibson, who you just heard mentioned in today's recording, talking to an interested passerby, it says, about the proposed Oak Bay Lodge redevelopment.

The story reads as follows.

It says the BC NDP has announced plans to help develop a new seniors care facility on the now vacant 3.9 acre lot where Oak Bay Lodge once stood.

I would anticipate there being relatively few, although there is one here in Saanich North and the islands that the Greens currently hold.

And again, I'm not sure how the election is going to go in Oak Bay Gordon Head.

Andrew Weaver is a wild card.

He's always been a wild card.

Sidney Coles, it says here, is a journalist, communications professional, researcher, and former public servant, it says, whose career has focused on building stronger, more inclusive communities.

Sidney holds two PhDs from the University of Toronto.

That's a prestigious institution for anybody who knows u of t uh has worked closely it says with indigenous and government leadership says has worked with doctors without borders in the democratic republic of congo says as a reporter in the capital regional district she says i've come to understand the unique nature and scale of the challenges facing this area said coles i'm reading their press release says i want to support esquimalt and colwood in continuing to be places where people and their families feel welcome safe and are able to thrive and this is interesting because We talked about Oak Bay Gordon Head, Andrew Weaver running for Centre BC, as well as Diana Gibson with the NDP as the incumbent.

Sorry, her name, for some reason, couldn't come into my brain for a moment there.