Ken Melamed, the Green Party candidate for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, engaged with thea public on the Sunshine Coast this week in a series of interactive town hall meetings between July 27 and 29.
Melamed was in Sechelt’s Seaside Centre on Tuesday where he gave a talk on the Green Party’s national pharmacare plan. His other talks have covered food security and livable incomes.
“These have been going well, people are really engaged,” Melamed said of the meetings. “They have a lot of ideas and also a lot of concern – pretty unanimous, let’s get rid of Harper.”
Sunshine Coast residents have mostly been interested in topics on stimulating the economy on the Coast by building infrastructure.
“There is a lot of interest in the energy future. Where is the country going energy-wise?” Melamed said. “We’re hearing that there’s a lot of concern about Canada’s role internationally on the climate file. How do we get back our reputation and how do we make a meaningful difference?”
A recent Insights West poll of the riding put the Green Party in fourth place at nine per cent. Melamed said that he isn’t concerned by the polls.
“It’s too early and it was a really small sample size. What I took away from that poll is that the Conservatives are down 20 per cent and there is 25 per cent undecided. If you believe in the polls.”
Melamed said the Green Party is patterning its strategy on leader Elizabeth May’s win in 2011. Three months before the election she was also polling below 10 per cent, but then rose up to 45 per cent of the vote to beat the sitting Conservative incumbent.
Meanwhile, May is scheduled to attend a campaign kick-off rally in Gibsons on Saturday, Aug. 1 at 706 Gibsons Way from 10 to 11 a.m.
