NDP members and friends from the Comox Valley and the North Island are gathering Tuesday, July 30, at 5 p.m. at the K'ómoks Band Hall on Comox Road for their annual general meeting and summer potluck.
“We are resolutely turning our faces to the future,” reports Kathryn Askew, president of the Vancouver Island North Federal NDP Riding Association. “Whatever the BC NDP decides to do provincially will unfold over the next few months, but we are also a federal party with planning to undertake for an election in 2015.”
The most pressing matter for federal riding associations in B.C. right now, according to Askew, is to reorganize within the new ridings established by the Electoral Boundaries Commission. A decision on the actual boundaries for Vancouver Island North and neighbouring areas is expected in September.
Associations will be recreated according to guidelines established by Elections Canada. The executive committee elected at Tuesday’s meeting will oversee that process and then be prepared to regroup within the new ridings in 2014.
Member of Parliament for Burnaby-New Westminster Peter Julian will address the July 30 meeting at 7 p.m.
Currently the NDP’s caucus chair and critic for Energy and Natural Resources for the Official Opposition, Julian is well-placed to answer questions from the audience about the approval process for mining applications on Vancouver Island, as well as questions related to oil pipelines and tankers.
He will also meet with groups in Campbell River and the Comox Valley during the day.
“Anyone is welcome to bring a dish for the potluck supper and listen to Peter,” says Askew. “We look forward to sharing delicious food together in a beautiful setting — and then sharing our environmental, social and economic values and beliefs from Vancouver Island with one of our country’s elected leaders.”
Elections will follow Julian’s presentation.
For more information, e-mail ndpvin@live.ca or leave a message on Facebook (NDP VI North).
— Vancouver Island North Federal NDP Riding Association