B.C. Green party preparing to reveal candidate for Vancouver-Point Grey byelection

Green party leader Jane Sterk said she hopes to announce who the candidate is later today (April 14).

An accelerated nomination process is under way to pick the candidate who was recommended by Sterk.

Approval from the party’s provincial council is required before the announcement will be made, Sterk said.

“We just believe that it is important that the Green party has a presence in the electoral process and we, for the most part, intend to do that whenever an election or a byelection is called,” she told the Straight by phone.

Sterk declined to name the candidate but said she is a 37-year-old woman who lives in Point Grey with her family.

The candidate has been involved with a past federal Green party campaign and works for the Vancouver School Board, Sterk said.

Sterk admitted it’s unlikely the Greens will win the May 11 byelection but indicated there is hope the party can increase its share of the vote, raise the candidate’s profile, and shore up support in the riding.

She also said the possibility she would run in the byelection had been ruled out.

“The party and I both concluded that was a bad decision. We believe that we need to run the candidate that we plan to run in the following provincial election and that’s what we’re intending to do,” she said.

David Eby, a high-profile civil rights and poverty activist, is looking to run for the NDP against Clark. Eby has regularly appeared in the news as executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.

Clark, who left provincial politics in 2005 after serving as a Liberal cabinet minister, does not have a seat in the legislature.

The Vancouver-Point Grey MLA seat was vacated by former premier Gordon Campbell in March.

Clark called the byelection for the riding yesterday and voters head to the polls on May 11. Advanced voting takes place from May 4 to May 7.