Skip to content

McDonough enters provincial race as Green Party candidate

Ladysmith business consultant Mayo McDonough has registered to run as the Green Party's candidate in the provincial election.

Mayo McDonough has registered to run as the Green Party of British Columbia’s candidate for Nanaimo-North Cowichan in next month’s provincial election.

McDonough, a business consultant who moved to Ladysmith from Victoria last fall, has served on a number of boards, foundations and committees, including the parent advisory council for Oak Bay-Gordon Head schools.

This is McDonough’s first run at provincial office, she said. Her decision to run stems from her longstanding relationship with fellow Green Party candidate Andrew Weaver, a University of Victoria climate researcher and member of the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Weaver and Green Party leader Jane Sterk suggested McDonough step forward and McDonough accepted the challenge.

McDonough listed protection for community watersheds and aquifers as one of her top priorities and she was unequivocal when it came to her party’s stance on fracking and the construction of new oil and gas pipelines in the province.

The Green Party is “completely against” Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway Project and David Black’s proposed Kitimat Clean refinery, McDonough said, and she referred to the future revenues from LNG touted by the current Liberal government as a “red herring.”

McDonough said the province subsidizes the oil and gas industry to the tune of $2 billion per year through tax incentives. She would like to see that money shifted to small businesses, green energy initiatives and programs to improve access to agricultural land for young would-be farmers.

Doing so would create “an explosion of jobs,” McDonough said.

Food security is another issue of concern for McDonough and the Green Party. McDonough attended a recent screening of Salmon Confidential — an expose on the province’s salmon farming industry by B.C. filmmaker Twyla Roscovich — at Vancouver Island University. The documentary reinforced her belief that a moratorium on fin-fish farms is needed to help the province’s salmon runs recover.

Regarding political donations made to parties by corporations and unions, McDonough said her party supported the NDP’s plan to eliminate corporate and union donations.

The Green Party would take the additional step of capping individual donations at $2,000 McDonough said.

For more information on McDonough, visit her Green Party profile online.





Secondary Title