Stuart Parker (politician) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Stuart Parker
Stuart Parker giving his nomination speech, August 24, 2009
Leader of the Green Party of British Columbia
In office 1993–2000
Preceded by	N/A
Succeeded by	Tom Hetherington (interim) Adriane Carr
Personal details
Born	1972 Vancouver, British Columbia
Political party	BC Ecosocialists
Other political affiliations	Green Party of Canada (1993–2000) ; New Democratic Party (2001–2018); BC Greens (1993–2000)
Residences	Surrey, British Columbia
Occupation	University Lecturer

Stuart Parker (born in 1972) is a Canadian politician. He was the leader of the Green Party in British Columbia, Canada, from 1993 to 2000. In 2020, he was also the acting leader of the BC Ecosocialists party.

In 2009, he tried to become a candidate for the Ontario New Democratic Party in a special election in Ontario. This election was held to choose a new Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for the St. Paul's area. He was not chosen as the candidate.

Stuart Parker's Work with the Green Party

Before becoming the Green Party leader at age 21, Stuart Parker started and led the party's youth group, the Young Greens. This was from 1988 to 1992. He became well-known for leading a successful national campaign against McDonald's Restaurants. This campaign was about stopping the use of foam packaging that harmed the ozone layer.

In 1990, Parker and the Young Greens received a lot of praise from Canadian news. McDonald's stopped using foam made with chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). CFCs are chemicals that damage the ozone layer. Their continued campaign also led to CKF Incorporated, a large Canadian foam maker, stopping the use of CFCs in 1993.

When Parker became leader, the Green Party was very small, with only 59 members in 1992. He helped it grow a lot. By the 1996 provincial election, the party had almost enough candidates to run in every area. He also connected with groups fighting poverty and with worker unions. During his time as leader, public support for the party grew from 1% to 11%.

While he was the party leader, Parker was arrested twice. This happened when he joined protests against clearcutting trees. These protests took place in Clayoquot Sound in 1993 and the Slocan Valley in 1997.

Later, he changed his mind about working with other parties. He made agreements with local groups of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (NDP). He also worked with worker groups in Vancouver and Victoria in 1998 and 1999. These agreements led to the first and only "Red-Green coalitions" in Canadian history. This happened in BC's 1999 local elections. Because of these partnerships, the Greens won their first local government seats in Canadian cities.

However, some people in the environmental movement criticized Parker. They felt he focused too much on making the Green Party a broad left-wing party. These members played a big part in his defeat at the party's meeting in March 2000. There had been other tries to remove him in 1998 and 1999, but they were not successful.

When Parker was defeated, his supporters in the party were talking with the NDP. They were discussing a possible alliance for provincial elections. But his successor, Adriane Carr, stopped these talks.

On June 2, 2020, Parker rejoined the Green Party. He supported Dimitri Lascaris in the leadership election.

Parker also founded the BC Ecosocialists and was its acting leader. He was also planning to run as a candidate in the 2020 British Columbia general election. However, he resigned from both roles after some controversy.

About BC Ecosocialists

BC Ecosocialists was a political party in British Columbia, Canada. It aimed to guide the province towards a greener society. It also wanted to fight against unfair treatment of First Nations people and immigrants. The party was formed in 2019. The 2020 British Columbia general election was expected to be its first election.

Soon after the 2020 provincial election was announced, Parker resigned. He stated the claims against him were "cancel culture silliness." He left his position as party leader on September 22, 2020, leaving the role empty. The party did not have any candidates in that election.

Party Goals

The BC Ecosocialists described themselves as "Further left than the NDP, greener than the greens." They looked up to figures like Greta Thunberg, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Autumn Peltier. The party supported the water protector activists at Standing Rock Indian Reservation. They especially praised these people for caring more about the Earth than about money.

The party's main goal was to improve life for everyone. This included providing housing and food for all. They also wanted to create a healthy environment. They suggested a Green New Deal to create jobs. This would involve developing green energy sources in British Columbia (BC). The party planned to raise taxes for rich people and big companies. This money would pay for green projects and better transportation. They also wanted to stop new fossil fuel projects in BC.

The Ecosocialists promised to break up large cooperative businesses. They wanted to make them smaller, community-based cooperatives. Their main targets were Vancity and the Mountain Equipment Co-op. They also planned to raise the minimum wage to $16 per hour. They criticized John Horgan's plan to keep the minimum wage lower than Alberta's until 2021.

The party also wanted to improve human rights for minority groups in BC. This included the First Nations in British Columbia, the LGBT+ community, and people with disabilities. They aimed to end gender inequality. The party had a policy called "decolonization." This meant giving power, land, and resources back to Indigenous people. It was more than just saying sorry or taking pictures.

The party planned to provide more resources to fight white collar crime. This meant focusing on those who break worker safety and wage laws, and those who cause pollution. They would also sue oil and coal companies for their part in climate change.

The party wanted to change the voting system to a proportional representation system. This system would be like the one used in Norway. Also, the party wanted more Indigenous people in the legislature. They planned to use the New Zealand model, which includes special seats for Māori people. They also wanted to make election day a holiday to encourage more people to vote.

Stuart Parker's Work with the NDP and Voting Reform

After Stuart Parker left the Green Party, it seemed like the Greens were moving to a more right-wing political view. He then worked with the NDP in the 2001 provincial election. He also worked with the federal New Democratic Party in the 2004 federal election.

Even after leaving the Greens and joining the NDP, he strongly supported changing how we vote. He wanted a system called proportional representation. He helped start the BC Electoral Change Coalition in 1997. He was also on the board of Fair Voting BC (from 2000–2002 and 2006–2009). He was on the board of Fair Vote Canada (from 2005–2007). He spoke for the "YES" campaign in the 2005 and 2009 BC referendums on voting reform.

In 2009, while living in Ontario, he tried to become the NDP candidate for a special election in the St. Paul's area. But he was not chosen.

After this, the NDP's national office encouraged him to try for a federal nomination. However, in March 2010, he was told he could not run for an NDP nomination anywhere in Canada. This happened even though he had been approved earlier.

In March 2018, Stuart Parker left the NDP. He disagreed with the provincial government giving money to large fossil fuel companies.

Stuart Parker's Work in Surrey Politics

Stuart Parker organizes reading groups through the Los Altos Institute. This group calls itself a "left-wing think tank." In 2016, Los Altos started a reading group in Surrey, BC.

From this Surrey group, Parker announced a new local political party in April 2018. This party was for the city of Surrey and was called Proudly Surrey. The party had candidates for City Council, including Parker himself. Dr. Pauline Greaves ran for mayor. They also had candidates for the Surrey School Board in the October 20, 2018, municipal election.

Personal Life

Stuart Parker is the son of Valerie Jerome and the nephew of Harry Jerome. He was the first leader of a registered political party in BC who was of African descent. In 1994, he gave the main speech at the opening ceremony of the province's Black History Month.

He currently lives in the Vancouver area. He used to travel a lot for his research on the religions of Indigenous peoples in the Americas and Polynesia. He works as a university lecturer at both Simon Fraser University and the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

Election Results

1. Vancouver Parks Board and Surrey City Council are chosen in a citywide (at-large) election in which seven candidates are elected. Although Parker received 3.2% of the total votes, approximately 23% of electors voted for him and in Surrey, he received the support of just shy of 9% of voters.