A Green Wave? No, But Possibly a Green Ripple.

It was just a by-election. Even if the governing party had an outside chance (it didn't, the Liberal brand out here rarely is competitive) voters "punish" the part in power in by-elections or so goes the claim.

This is generally reliable NDP territory. Up my way the Conservatives dominated for a while but this riding is also now held by the New Dems.

So perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that the Liberals came a dismal fourth in a seven candidate field.

It's hard to tell whether yesterday's release of the UN report on the looming biodiversity crisis had much impact on the voting but it couldn't have helped the mainstream parties much.

Then there's Trudeau's pipeline. I would love to think the Liberals' drubbing reflected a bit of that discord.

In a blatant display of electoral cowardice the Trudeau government has been tossing around the idea of withholding its decision on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion until after the general election in October. Hmm, I wonder what that's all about? Duh. For that perfidy alone the Liberals should be driven out of every riding in British Columbia.

Sorry, Grits, but your guy had his chance. We even fawned over him when he went surfing at Tofino. Sooo dishy. Only he turned into a dud. He's such a pale shadow of the Trudeau we knew and liked and, even those that didn't like him, respected. Hard to respect this guy with his patronizing speeches delivered in school marm style.

As for the NDP, well Jagmeet did chum the waters for his party's candidate. Even Maxime had his PPC lawn signs everywhere, often eclipsing all the other parties'. Far right lunacy doesn't sell too well out here.

What does this mean for my party, the Greens? It's a morale booster, for sure. It draws attention to the Greens as an alternative to what I call the "old school" parties and inspires hope for much greater gains in October. Too many still think of the Greens as a single-issue movement, a predictable lie spun by party hacks all too well steeped in prevarication.

For me, and I suspect plenty of others, that whole "strategic voting" ploy is over. Don't tell me that a vote for the Greens is a vote for Scheer. No it's a vote for the Greens. Slag the Greens as much as you like but look at yourself in the mirror first.