B.C. Green candidate Vonnie Lavers chatted with people at Jojo’s Café in Osoyoos on Thursday. Pictured here she talks to (from left) Navneet Kaur, Gurimrah Singh and Karminder Singh. (Richard McGuire photo)
Vonnie Lavers strolls around the tables at Jojo’s Café in Osoyoos, introducing herself to guests and often engaging in friendly conversation.
The recently declared B.C. Green candidate in Boundary-Similkameen has some catching up to do and she hopes her personal touch can help to overcome the head start of her two main party competitors.
Sitting at a table in the corner as Lavers made her rounds of Jojo’s last Thursday is Dave Cursons, bearded and 70ish, a Green Party member for some 35 years and several times a candidate.
“I’ve been actually joking around with him that he needs to be my campaign manager, because he has the skills, the ability and knowledge,” said Lavers. “I’ve been doing a lot of persuading and convincing this morning to get him on board.”
Cursons, from Cawston, has been taking Lavers around for her meet and greets.
By the end of our interview, Lavers’ arm-twisting has worked and Cursons has agreed to manage her campaign.
Lavers’ visit to Jojo’s has several purposes. By meeting local residents, the personable candidate has a chance to engage potential voters one on one.
She asks them about the issues that concern them and the Kelowna-based candidate quickly gets up to speed with the pulse of Boundary-Similkameen.
And last Thursday she was still collecting signatures for her nomination papers. She needed 75, but was going for 100 to be on the safe side. Those signing need to reside in the riding and in Osoyoos she’s already chatted to several tourists from outside the province.
As a late entrant into the race, Lavers has missed the all-candidates forums organized by the South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce and the Wine Country Retired Teachers’ Association.
So she plans to catch up by meeting as many people as she can through community meetings, events, speaking to service clubs and reaching out to local media.
Aside from the late start, the Green Party is also at a disadvantage financially and organizationally. The party currently has only one MLA, Leader Andrew Weaver.
“We don’t have a big Goliath behind us,” said Lavers. “We’re the David and we have to really get out and meet people and do the best we can.”
Although Lavers currently lives in Kelowna, she plans to move to Boundary-Similkameen.
She said she knows the riding well from her experience with the Cops for Kids charity, which she started and managed for five years. That charity raises money for children in need with a grueling 10-day bicycle ride through mountainous terrain.
“I’m very familiar with (the constituency),” she said. “Yes, it is a very large geographic area. It’s beautiful to drive around and to stop in off the beaten track and get to know people, get to meet people and get to know what their challenges are and what we can do to help alleviate some of that when we’re elected to run the province.”
Lavers says she loves cycling and also does weight training. She also loves music and theatre.
“I love local culture and meeting local people,” she said. “I’m very easy to know, very friendly and love participating in any event that happens in any community in which I choose to be or live.”
As the candidate for a small party, Lavers said she has a huge opportunity to stand up and be noticed and be different.
“We’re very keen to talk about biology, ecology and culture – all interrelated and connected – and the economic development that comes with that,” she said.
She emphasizes the role of renewables in addition to existing resources and infrastructure.
“I think it’s responsible and accountable for us to really take a look at that and to stand out and be a little different as the smallest party,” she said. “To make some noise about that and to be heard.”
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
B.C. Green candidate Vonnie Lavers stopped by Jojo’s Café on Wednesday with her campaign manager Dave Cursons to meet local residents and get signatures on her nomination papers.(Richard McGuire photo)
B.C. Green candidate Vonnie Lavers. (Richard McGuire photo)
