Green candidate Jodie Emery meets Attorney General Wally Oppal

Did Jodie Emery intimidate Wally Oppal enough for the B.C. attorney general to hightail it out of Vancouver-Fraserview?

Emery says a part of her wants to believe that.

Emery, who is running as the B.C. Green Party’s candidate in the constituency ditched by Oppal in favour of Delta South, blogged about her encounter with the province’s No. 1 prosecutor on the rain-swept steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery last weekend.

Here’s some of what she wrote:

At about 1:30 pm, a distinguished-looking gentleman approached our table after seeing the sign for my candidacy in Vancouver-Fraserview. I thought he looked familiar, but couldn’t quite place his face to a name. I said my standard pitch aloud – “Do you live in BC?” – and he responded, “Yes”, and seemed to be looking at me for some signal of recognition. I asked if he would like to sign our nomination papers, still trying to place where I knew him from, when Marc interjected, “Mr. Oppal, how are you? This is my wife, Jodie Emery, who is running against your record in Fraserview.”

Sure enough, it was Wally Oppal – the BC Attorney-General (“top prosecutor”), former BC Court of Appeal judge, and sitting MLA for Vancouver-Fraserview. I had been slated to run against him in Fraserview, but he switched ridings after I was nominated. I introduced myself and shook his hand, feeling sheepish about not being able to recognize who he was; after all, the Georgia Straight newspaper had run an article with the headline “Green Party siren Jodie Emery targets Wally Oppal the prohibitionist” when my candidacy was first announced.

He gingerly remarked, “You can say you scared me off, that you intimidated me to seek another riding!” He was facetious and good-humored, but part of me really believes it. In the Georgia Straight article, I was quoted saying: “There is a lot that needs to be said that he needs to hear ”¦ He used to be a bit more progressive, but he’s since turned to become more prohibitionist and [is] supporting the policing, even though he and everyone can see that hasn’t worked thus far. I think I will have a good time discussing some of these issues – gang violence and prohibition and organized crime – with Wally Oppal. I am quite excited about it.”

Mr. Oppal graciously stayed for a brief chat, and Marc, ever helpful with his knowledge, continued: “Jodie may not have recognized you right away, but she’s very familiar with your 1994 Report of Policing in British Columbia. Do you think your government has made suitable progress on your recommendations from that report?” Mr. Oppal replied that, yes, in his opinion, the BC Liberals had done some significant work on the proposals of the groundbreaking report from the bench fifteen years ago.

As he prepared to leave, I handed him my “How do we end the gang violence? End prohibition!” pamphlet and Marc asked if he thought the policies of prohibition have been working. He didn’t answer definitively yes or no, but took the pamphlet, shook my hand, and wished me good luck in the election. I saw him reading the information as he walked away. Perhaps he’ll take it to heart and begin talking about how gangs are created and funded by prohibition – who knows? Stranger things have happened!