DON BARTHEL, BC GREEN: PORT MOODY-COQUITLAM
Don Barthel is 50, has been a member of the BC Greens for about a decade and has worked on previous party campaigns. And for his first crack at provincial politics, the Vancouver resident is running in a riding about which he knows little.
A computer programmer and entrepreneur, Barthel said his main reason for joining the contest is to help stop Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project to Burnaby. (He’s not alone in the riding: Port Moody city council has spoken out against the project at the National Energy Board panel hearing.)
His party is also against Site C dam construction and is looking for more investment in other forms of renewable energy.
Locally, his relatives in Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam have brought him up to speed on other riding issues such as seniors care and mental health.
As an outsider, Barthel told The Tri-City News in a phone interview on Monday he believes some voters “will see it as a negative. I’d like to point out that the other two parties, their candidates are whipped. They are told how to vote so they can’t really represent their riding properly.”
The SFU grad added later, “Clearly, I have some education to do to even better understand our riding.”
Asked if he’ll move his family to the Tri-Cities should he be successful with his campaign, Barthel said he has no plans. “I can’t make the commitment that I would do that right now.”
THE ISSUES
• On ERH, an institution that he has never visited, Barthel says the BC Greens want to invest in health care by proposing a small tax increase on the wealthy. “We are not in favour of a parallel private system,” he said in reference to Linda Reimer’s comments at the all-candidates’ debate last Thursday.
• On help for those struggling with addiction, Barthel says his party wants to keep Riverview Hospital in public hands and is opposed to market housing on the Coquitlam site. “It should be kept for rehab and treatments,” he says. “Not all the lands are needed for that now but we think we should save the rest for room for expansion because if we use it now, it would become much more expensive to replace later. The land should be reserved for its original purposes.”
• On car insurance rates, Barthel points his finger at the BC Liberals. “They have taken dividends from ICBC to balance the budget,” he says. “We think the government should not be dipping in. We think that ICBC users should pay for their insurance but they shouldn’t pay for more than the cost to run the insurance corporation.” Barthel cited the different between the Yukon and B.C. for car insurance premiums. “The comparison is quite stark,” he said. But asked about capping claim payouts for drivers involved in accidents, Barthel said he is opposed. “I would be more in favour of switching for a reasonable cost-saving measure to the business.”
To contact Don Barthel, visit bcgreens/pom.
