Greg Amos, Staff Writer
After trying to regain entry into the federal Liberal party that ousted him last November, local member of Parliament Blair Wilson has joined the federal Green party.
In the process, Wilson became the first Green party MP in Canadian history when he joined the party last Saturday (Aug. 30).
"When I ran in 2006, I received significant support from people who were environmentally conscious," said Wilson, reached in Montreal on Wednesday (Sept. 3). "As an Independent, I had the chance to look at the platforms of the other parties. Everything lined up perfectly for this."
Wilson said the deal was sealed when he invited Green party leader Elizabeth May to a barbecue at his West Vancouver home during the summer. With a Green MP sitting in the House of Commons, May said it "will now be impossible to exclude the Green party from the televised leaders' debates in the next election." Wilson, a past member of the House of Commons immigration committee, will become the Green party's immigration critic, she said.
Wilson was elected in 2006 as the Liberal candidate for the West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast - Sea to Sky Country riding. The federal Liberal party ejected Wilson last year following allegations of campaign finance irregularities, and Wilson faced more adversity through a series of articles in The Province detailing his personal finance woes. In July, Elections Canada cleared Wilson of the campaign finance claims against him. But the federal Liberal party insisted Wilson's failure to disclose information as a potential candidate meant he could not rejoin the party.
Wilson won't have a chance to take his seat as a Green party member, as parliament will be dissolved by an election call Prime Minister Stephen Harper will make this weekend. The House of Commons is on summer break until Sept. 15.
Powell River - Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons said he's "surprised and disappointed" by Wilson's move. "I don't think it does either party any good," he said. "People are disillusioned with politics, and this gives them a reason to be more disillusioned.
"If it's a Hail Mary play, someone's going to have to dive to make the catch," he added jokingly.
Wilson said his focus is getting May a spot on the televised leader's debate - "arguably the single most important political event in an election," he said.
"I will feel that all my past difficulties are justified if, by my actions, I can make a real difference by ensuring Elizabeth May is included in the leaders' debates," Wilson said. He added that the participants in the debates are decided by a consortium of Canada's four largest media companies.
"We believe in a strong democracy, and the fact that Elizabeth May has been shut out of the leaders' debate for so many years is undemocratic. I think this will be a major turning point in Canadian politics," he said.
Wilson will be running against Conservative candidate John Weston, NDP candidate Dana Larsen and current Squamish mayor Ian Sutherland, who will soon be acclaimed as the Liberal candidate for the riding. In the 2006 election, Wilson's 23,867 votes narrowly edged out Weston's 22,891.
"I'm definitely the underdog in this riding, but the people who are with me are still a very strong group of core individuals," Wilson said. "I'm going to run on my record of hard work at the riding level. I think the Conservative party is scared - the Green party is gaining momentum."
Before Wilson's announcement over the weekend, the Green party did have a candidate set to run in the riding: Jim Stephenson, who ran in the North Vancouver riding in 2006.
