JASON HANLEY
BC GREEN
Jason Hanley is frustrated. He can’t answer the three policy questions posed to him because his party hasn’t fully rolled its platform. It’s coming out slowly, he says, apologizing.
Party officials may be building more hype that way, he suggests.
But for now, the 39-year-old first-time candidate is left to respond the best he can.
He argues that’s what’s great about the BC Greens, that candidates are permitted to talk freely and, unlike the BC Liberals or NDP, aren’t whipped into toeing the party line.
Last month, the Greens asked Hanley to run in Port Coquitlam. At the time, he was working on logistics and technology for Ian Soutar’s campaign in the neighbouring riding of Coquitlam-Burke Mountain (in 2013, Hanley helped out on another Green campaign).
The chief technology officer for the Toronto-based company The Rumie Initiative, a non-profit group that provides free digital education to underserved communities around the world, Hanley asked his wife and his employer if he could take on the challenge.
That was the easy part, he remembers.
Campaigning against veteran NDP MLA Mike Farnworth — a popular hometown figure who is seeking his sixth term — will be an uphill battle, Hanley admits.
Hanley, who bought a townhouse on the city’s northside last year, said he started his campaign by studying YouTube videos of Farnworth.
“I think he is an extremely worthy adversary,” Hanley said during an interview at a downtown PoCo coffee shop on Monday. “He is strong and well spoken and practised… I have to say I respect him.”
But the Green Party is where Hanley’s interests lie. Its political mandate of caring for the environment and other planks most closely reflect Hanley’s values, he said.
THE ISSUES
• On the topic of homelessness, a prominent issue in PoCo, Hanley points to the lack of housing affordability: Low income and high rents mean people are forced on to the streets. He said homelessness grew after Riverview Hospital closed and, if elected, he wants to ensure the 244-acre site is reopened — with no market housing component — to treat the mentally ill. The Greens also want to add to the supply of affordable housing, he said, without offering details.
• On recreational marijuana, Hanley said the Greens want a sound regulatory framework in place before the federal government legalizes weed next July. “We will prioritize an approach that favours small business, promotes public safety and prioritizes the health of British Columbians. Specifically, we would not favour cannabis being sold in government liquor stores,” he wrote to The Tri-City News in an email sent after the interview was completed.
• On the systematic delays in the courts, Hanley said more money is needed to ensure there are sufficient judges and sheriffs to move cases through the system. “It feels like the [BC] Liberals have purposefully defunded a number of institutions, including justice and healthcare,” he said.
To contact Jason Hanley, call 604-800-5437 or visit
bcgreens.ca/poc.
