The second of three columns on the candidates in the BC Green leadership race: Jonathan Kerr, Emily Lowan and Adam Bremner-Akins. Party members vote on a new leader Sept. 13-23.
Are the BC Greens an environmental protest movement consigned to shouting on the lawn of the legislature, or are they a party that advances its policies into reality inside the corridors of power?
It’s a question Jonathan Kerr says is core to his campaign as party leader.
“I’m not interested in the Greens being a protest party standing out on the legislature steps with a megaphone,” he says in a recent interview. “I’m focused on holding the balance of power inside the legislature so we can enact more green policy.”
Kerr’s central pitch is blunt: the Greens can’t win more seats if they cling to protest politics. He wants the party in the rooms where power is wielded, shaping housing, health care and the economy, not just yelling about climate.
“If we drive the party further to the fringe and the far left extreme views, we’ll never get those voters and we’ll never win more seats,” he says.
At 44, Kerr is the establishment candidate in a race that includes two rivals barely half his age. He stands in stark contrast to lead contender Emily Lowan, the 24-year-old climate activist running on a slogan to “fight the oligarchs, fund the future.” She promises fire and confrontation. He promises steadiness and pragmatism.
“We need a leader with electability, with a mind for the issues that matter to people,” says Kerr.
“And I think that's the biggest difference. I think it's really potentially risky for the party to go down a fringe movement.”
Kerr knows how to win, having twice been elected as a councillor in Comox and currently serving as vice-chair of the Comox Valley Regional District. And he contends the issues people want to talk about extend far beyond the Green’s core environmental base.
“If our Green message can be good for the environment, put more money back in people's pockets, recruit more family doctors and have more affordable housing—that's a winning message, and you don't hear that from the other candidates in this campaign,” he says.
The Greens have watched their vote collapse almost 48 per cent since 2017, unable to break past two MLAs in the legislature in the last two elections. Whoever takes the reins has to find a way to revive the party into wider relevance.
Kerr argues the key is better organization, readiness and a full slate of 93 candidates.
“The vote share looks like it went down, but that’s because there weren’t candidates in 30-something ridings,” he says.
Kerr has establishment backing, with endorsements from former leaders Adriane Carr and Jane Sterk, as well as mayors, school trustees and past candidates from the NDP and Greens. He says former leader Sonia Furstenau encouraged him to run, though she hasn’t endorsed anyone officially.
“We want to have lots of youth energy and youth members,” he says. “But we want to make sure that those who are now maybe with a bit of grey hair, that were youth activists back in their day, are also included.”
Nothing illustrates the divide over the party’s future more than the Greens’ confidence and supply deal with the NDP last year.
Lowan is critical that it's not bold enough and still allows the NDP to pursue harmful policies like fossil fuel expansion. Kerr defends the deal, saying it has shown solid results on rent protection, community health centres and a review of CleanBC.
“You'll also see maybe that a difference between myself and some of the other candidates in the leadership race is I want to work closely and be aligned with our current MLAs, support them in the legislature, and make sure that we are working as one team, not at odds,” he says.
Kerr’s skillset of working with others, finding compromise and getting things done was developed over a career in family medicine that included being the president of the Ontario College of Family Physicians, where he negotiated with ministers, deputy ministers and other top health officials on behalf of more than 15,000 members. He’s since worked on more than a dozen municipal, provincial and federal Green campaigns in B.C.
Kerr now co-runs a family practice in Comox, where he lives with his wife and two teenaged sons.
He’s known in the community as a professional biathlon coach and athlete. It’s a sport that requires intense discipline, where athletes race with a pounding heart through cross-country skiing and then abruptly steady their breath for target shooting.
Kerr says that same focus and calm under pressure will serve him well in politics. He’ll need it. Because this leadership race has the party’s future squarely in its crosshairs.
Rob Shaw has spent more than 17 years covering B.C. politics, now reporting for CHEK News and writing for The Orca/BIV. He is the co-author of the national bestselling book A Matter of Confidence, host of the weekly podcast Political Capital, and a regular guest on CBC Radio.
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