John Boychuk, B.C. Green party candidate for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant, brought his SUV to a debate on April 28.
Matthew Burrows
email
printMount Pleasant Green candidate John Boychuk defends use of SUV
The B.C. Green party candidate for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant has defended his use of a Jeep Grand Cherokee with a V-8 engine during the election campaign.
“Well, the reason why it’s being used is because it’s full of signs right now,” John Boychuk told the Straight by phone on April 29. “It’s not something that we typically use on a daily basis, but when it comes to being able to deliver all the supplies, that’s the only size vehicle that I have to be able to manage.”
Boychuk confirmed ownership of the vehicle, which has two signs posted on the roof and was parked in the lot outside False Creek elementary school during a April 28 candidates debate he attended in Vancouver-False Creek.
He did not think voters would find it odd that a Green candidate in an urban riding was driving a vehicle with such a high carbon footprint.
“They shouldn’t find it odd that I also own a bicycle, you know?” Boychuk said. “What you have to remember is I’m also financing this whole campaign out of my pocket. If it comes right down to it, there are better choices out there. At the same time, I’m doing the best that I can as an individual, making sure that I buy the best gasoline, keep it tuned up, and keep it in shape....I can’t afford to go out and buy a $40,000 car, considering my business is only a year and a half old.”
Added Boychuk: “Right now I’m dealing with a handful of volunteers that are having a very hard time to be able to get the materials out. Therefore, I’m having to use my vehicle to do several different trips to get stuff out to individuals. So if we had more volunteers we could do one whirlwind drop-off and leave the vehicles behind. Otherwise, when you get the calls and somebody’s got a free evening and they want to get some stuff out into their neighbourhood, you do the best to get that information to them in a timely manner.”
Boychuk, a former president of the Vancouver Pride Society, is running against incumbent NDP MLA Jenny Kwan and B.C. Liberal candidate Sherry Wiebe.
No comments:
Post a Comment