A super busy week

Last week was incredible! I’d like to share a few snapshots to give you a feel of the campaign so far.

Yesterday I represented the New Democrats at a Agriculture debate on the mainland in the morning and marched in the Earth Day rally on the island in the early afternoon and then door-knocked until dusk. 

A few days ago the Conservation Voters of BC announced their endorsements for the election. They only supported four candidates in the whole province – and I was one of them! They wrote: “Our endorsements are designed to put stronger environmental voices in the BC legislature. Our endorsees are individuals who have shown strong leadership on climate change and other local issues. They will be an asset to the Legislature."

Last week was also very special because NDP Leader Carole James dropped by my farm to meet local farmers and hear, first hand, the issues that are important to them.  

Carole and I spoke about the importance of local agriculture and it turned into quite a gathering with local and provincial media and many, many supporters. Here is a video.

It was also an amazing week in terms of fund-raising, our best week ever. It is really very humbling to see so many people contributing what they can to this campaign – it definitely redoubles my commitment to work every day to protect our quality life and to secure our children’s future. We have a lot of money still to raise – please help! Click here to make a donation to the campaign.

The volunteer energy is electric! Heather, my campaign manager, often just shakes her head in happy disbelief! But we still need to ramp it up! Please drop by the office (4087 Quadra) call 250 479 2224 or email samuel@lanapopham.ca

A few upcoming public events you may be interested in:

• April 28 - CFAX 1070, on-air debate between Lana, Dallas Henault (Liberal) and Adam Saab (Green) on the environment. 9 - 9:30 am. Please call-in and ask questions. 250 386 1161. 
  
• April 29 - All candidates, Saanich South, 7:30 pm, Unitarian Church, 5575 West Saanich Road. Sponsored by Prospect Lake Community Assn.
  
• April 30 - Food Matters, Regional (I’m representing the NDP), 7-9 pm, First Metropolitan Church Hall, 932 Balmoral (@ Quadra).
  

In honour of Earth Day on Wednesday, I handed out one hundred reusable shopping bags at local shopping centres – that was fun! Earth Day is great time to refocus on creating green options which can help people live in a sustainable way. On Earth Day I also joined Wilderness Committee’s ‘walk into the woods’ to view some of our local big trees. I pledged to work towards greater protection for the 100 largest and oldest trees in BC. We have tr

ees in this province that are over one thousand years old. They and their immediate ecosystems must be protected. 

And the week began on Sunday when I joined hundreds of people celebrating Vaisakhi at Victoria's Sikh Temple onTopaz Street. Vaisakhi is a four week celebration of harvest time celebrated by millions of people around the world. This year marked the 310th anniversary of the creation of the Khalsa when the Sikh faith was formalized. The growing enthusiasm about the festival of Vaisakhi shows how much pride British

Columbians take in the tradition and culture of B.C.'s Sikh, Indo-Canadian and South Asian communities. Vaisakhi allows all of us to come together and celebrate the South Asian community's culture as part of our province's collective heritage. It helps us learn about one another and strengthen our pride in our shared customs.

And this week will be even busier!!!

Lana.

P.S., By the way, I am now twittering, please  click here if you want connect.

 

Rally for Farmers!

Yesterday was a great day - it was a real honour to speak at the rally for farming and food security...and on the steps of the Legislature, no less. 

Brent Warner gave a really smart keynote on specific changes we need to make to our ag policy. He noted that in the 70s there were ten full time extension officers helping fruit farmers in the Okanagan - and today there are...NONE! Jordan Marr and Tom Henry did a super job organizing the event,  Organic Farmer Heather Stretch and local food expert Linda Geggie shared 

important insights...well done everybody!

I was humbled by all the support local farmers and food security advocates gave me - and it only deepened my resolve to work towards better farming policy in British Columbia. 

Following is the rough text of my speech... (I also gave shout-outs to the big crew of NDP provincial candidates who were there to show their support for farmers - but I didn't mention how not a SINGLE Liberal Candidate bothered to show up, depsite repeated invites. As Jordan said, their absence speaks volumes.) 

"Good afternoon, thank you for inviting me here today on a beautiful spring day. I know how critical these spring hours are to your farms and gardens - and I appreciate that you have all taken the time to be here.

I am here to talk to you about something that has driven me to step up to the challenge of provincial politics. I am speaking as a mother, I am speaking as an eater, I’m speaking as a community activist, I’m speaking for the New Democrats and I am speaking as a farmer.

I believe we are at a critical point with local food production, maybe even the tipping point, and I am here to tell you that I believe in agriculture!

So much of what we do, so many of the policies that we believe in are ultimately tied back to local farming and our food supply.

As a candidate for the NDP, I’m proud of my party’s commitments to support and protect farming, and I am personally committed to strengthen these commitments once elected.

For the past eight years, government has ignored the concerns of farmers and paid lip service to what I believe is one of the most important industries in BC.

Sometimes it seems like government is more concerned about defending their badly thought out policy rather than encouraging local farmers to be successful.

It’s about time that we put local food production first.

We need to bring integrity back to the Agricultural Land Commission. The ALC should be focused on protecting farmland. Period.

Lately it’s been distracted by court cases, conflicts of interest and allegations about questionable dealings.

We need to value our small lot farms. Farmers are being put though an exercise of having to prove themselves innocent while they are accused of being guilty of not using their land in ways that qualify them for farm status.

I sat through more than 20 BC Assessment appeals last year with farmers in our region who lost their battles. My friend Mary Alice Johnson had her farm split. It was like a slap in the face to farming as she is one of our finest food producers on the South Island. She asked the people who decided the fate of her farm ….”who is going to feed you? I am here for Mary Alice.

We need to restore the Buy BC Program that helped farmers and small business people promote their products to local consumers.

It’s inexpensive and it works. So why was it cut? Because politics got in the way and farmers paid the price. The NDP will bring this back.

We need to get rid of unworkable meat processing regulations.

We shouldn’t be punishing farmers, but rather helping them by creating a system that protects the public’s health without imposing prohibitive new costs. The NDP will do this.

We need to bring extension services back to farmers in BC so we stop losing our future farmers. The NDP will do this.

We can and we must maintain our community’s farming roots. If we are to thrive as a society then we need to rely on our farms more than ever.

Most importantly, we need to support the farmers we depend on. If we loose the fight for agricultural support we loose everything. That’s is not acceptable you, its not acceptable to me and its not acceptable to the New democrats.

We used to value agriculture in this province, and that is the BC that I want back.

Thank you for your support!"

The Election Has Begun......Finally!

It's day two of a 28 day election period. The excitment has built for months and now it is a reality. The fight for our future in BC is going to be a tough one everywhere, but in Saanich South the race will be watched very closely.

Getting through the next month will be an adventure. I haven't had very many moments to sit back and reflect lately but I did get a chance to take my bike out on the weekend and ride around Saanich South. Saanich South is an amazing community. The urban/rural split makes it very unique. I feel lucky to live here and I am going to fight hard for the honor of being the MLA.

I would love your vote on May 12th!

Lana Popham