Mount 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.
Comments
4 Comments
sleepswithangels
Apr 29, 2009 at 10:01pm
The sacrificial lamb gets his 15 seconds of local infamy behind the wheel of the former preferred choice of the hard core environmentally unconscious.
It reminds me of a Vancouver Green Peace director who, 20 years ago, was driving a smoke belching 1974 Chevelle.It sure made a lasting impression on me.
SMBs
JamieLee
Apr 30, 2009 at 11:56am
This piece just goes to show that we all have a way to go to reach Perfection. Perhaps Mr Burrows has already.
I'd love to see Mr Burrows write about those candidates with big budgets and even bigger offices with their army of volunteers and paid staff who no doubt make continous trips on a daily basis to their offices which I think if you do a compare probably have an even larger carbon footprint.
Mr Boychuk runs his whole campaign from that jeep and it is offset by his campaign manager who is a public transit user.
Until Mr Boychuk can afford a Prius he is stuck with an old Jeep during this campaign.
I still love those Champagne Socialists though who can afford their Prius' and the best champagne of course to go along with their smart cars. .
montyvan
Apr 30, 2009 at 3:05pm
Oh for crying out loud, what do you expect he do, go to all his appointments on a bicycle, carrying all of his materials and signs in a giant backpack?? What about Jenny Kwan, who arrived in a gas-guzzling car to a recent debate? In fact, every candidate I've seen travels in some sort of vehicle that requires gasoline to run. Singling out one candidate seems like a partisan, hypocritical attack.
Matthew Burrows
Apr 30, 2009 at 4:33pm
It's not a "partisan and hypocritical attack", montyvan. It's journalism. I wrote an article mentioning that Carole James drives a Crossover nearly-SUV a while back, so this is most certainly not partisan.
http://www.straight.com/article-119333/ndp-yet-to-break-its-silence-on-p...
Boychuk is running in Vancouver-Mount Pleasant and it's one of the most densely-populated ridings in B.C. I was surprised to see his V8. I didn't see Jenny Kwan's vehicle, but I didn't have the added highly-visible A-frame singage on display that we have with Mr. Boychuk's V8.
I say we have a debate around how much driving goes on during campaign time and how and whether this can be mitigated. There's a conundrum that crosses all party lines...I say given the nature and geography of the province, it's not a conundrum that's easily solved.