Why is West Vancouver – Sunshine Coast an important riding in this election? Well, because it’s one of those “swing” ridings, that every news agency in Canada is keeping tabs on in the majority yes or no sweepstakes. However, what marks West Vancouver apart is that its incumbent MP is running for the Green Party. In the coming days what you will find here is a profile of each of the major local campaigns and the impact of the national campaigns. In the meantime, a brief thought on Blair Wilson joining the Greens (only two weeks after the fact, but still moderately imporant)…

For those of you unfamiliar with Blair Wilson and wondering if he offers the Greens a shot of winning the riding, I’m sorry to disappoint you. Realistically, he may offer a top result for the Greens nationally, but there’s a reason the Liberals didn’t want him back after questions about this election financing and personal finances came to light. Despite being cleared of serious allegations, the damage had been done. The story was played to death in the local media and the history of Blair Wilson is now common knowledge across the Lower Mainland and his short term political career at a very likely end. However, that is not to say that the Green Party and Blair Wilson are a bad marriage, quite the contrary in fact. Wilson has already paid a small dividend, given his part in getting the Green’s into the debate (though, Jack Layton is deserving of some thanks for that too).

The medium-long term benefit, though, may be much greater. In Eastern Canada, where this story has never been ‘water cooler talk’, he offers some legitimacy to the party as a sitting(albeit for a week) Green member of parliament. Combined with participation in the debates, this has the potential to offer the Greens more votes across the country which, in turn, means more federal funding. For a party the size of the Greens, that’s important. For Wilson, it offers a better funded campaign and a built-in base from which to start and grow. Expect a much stronger Green result than in 2006 – though Blair, quick piece of advice, don’t use water soluble markers for your ‘authorized by’ lines on your campaign signs, it’s Vancouver, it gets wet here.

What I’m trying to say is that despite only sitting for a week as a Green member, Blair Wilson may have provided his new party, at least in part, with the means for their long-awaited breakthrough next time around – because this time it seems dubious, not impossible, much stranger things have happened. Though even if all he does is help get the Greens into the debate, that’s a legacy that goes well beyond anything he was able to do in the Liberal cuacus. In the meantime, however, his candidacy means that West Vancouver – Sunshine Coast – Sea to Sky Country is John Weston’s and the Conservatives to lose, but more on that next time.

Before I go, I would like to express my best wishes for a speedy recovery to Liberal incumbent Don Bell of North Vancouver. On Monday September 8th he suffered a heart attack and though he was released from hospital Friday the 12th, the campaign trail is not the ideal place to get healthy again. Here’s to a speedy recovery.