Weed Divas future doobie- ous Mary Jean Dun- sdon only 68 per cent sure about 2078 election By KURTIS GREGORY popular marijuana industry A advocate who campaigned to be Vancouver's next city councillor says she is not deterred from seeking another possible run at city hall despite her sixth-place finish in the Oct. 14 byelection. Mary Jean "Watermelon" Duns- don, who won 1,737 votes for just under four per cent of the total vote, said she gained experience in her campaign run and will continue to fight for rights of cannabis users in Vancouver. “I’m not 100 per cent sure I want to run again in 2018, but there’s about a 68 per cent possibility,” said Dunsdon, while watching the re- sults Saturday night with campaign staff, friends and family at her East First Avenue home. Saturday’s byelection saw only 11 per cent of eligible voters turn out to vote in a race that included a competition for nine vacant school board seats. The NPA’s Hector Bremner won the race with 13,372 votes for 28 per cent of the vote. Dunsdon ran her campaign pri- marily advocating for reform to the city's existing medical marijuana dispensary bylaws. “We feel a lot of these regula- tions are way more harsh than say booze or tobacco or opioids when we know now that cannabis is saf- er than all three of those things,” Dunsdon said. Stephen Phil- lips, a Langara political science professor, said it's unlikely a party with such a narrow focus fiw will continue to have a presence when recre- ational marijua- na is legalized by the Trudeau government next July. “In a way, events are kind of stealing their thunder — the senior levels of government, federal gov- ernment, taking steps in that direc- tion,” Phillips said. Dana Larsen, founder and party president of Sensible BC, said the party's Vancouver branch will likely continue to push for drug reform in Canada, even after marijuana is legalized. “The legalization we're getting is not the end of it anymore than the gay rights movement ending when sodomy was no longer a crime — there is still a lot of important things that need to be dealt with,” said Larsen, who joined Dunsdon at her house Saturday night. Stephen Phillips POLITICAL SCIENCE INSTRUCTOR Janet Fraser watches the first round of election results come out on Oct. 14. PHOTO BY LAURA BROUGHAM Greens look to 2018 race for more seats First place with 27,360 votes. Second place with 23,383 votes. Third place with 20,307 votes. Third place with 9,759 votes. SOURCE: VANCOUVER.CA Greens elected three school trustees in Oct. 14 byelection By LAURA BROUGHAM he Green Party’s success in Saturday’s byelection in Vancouver cannot be viewed as a prelude to what will happen in the polls in the civic election next October. ‘That's the conclusion of Ramjee Parajulee, a Langara College po- litical science instructor, who cau- tioned the Greens’ election of three school trustees Oct. 14 occurred with only 11 per cent of eligible voters casting a ballot. “Certainly, it’s a positive sign,” Parajulee said. “But how can you gauge the opinion of people based on 11 per cent?” The Greens’ Janet Fraser, Judy Zaichkowsky and Estrellita Gon- zalez won the top three spots on the nine-person school board. They were among 19 candidates in a race that saw Vision Vancouver also win three seats. The NPA won two and OneCity Vancouver finished with one. On the council side, the Greens’ Pete Fry's 9,759 votes left him in third place behind second-place finisher Jean Swanson. The NPA‘s Hector Bremner won the council seat with 13,372 votes and 28 per cent of the vote. “T think there was a really clear signal that was sent tonight — that people are looking for a new progressive party for the City of Vancouver, and the Greens are starting to fit that bill,” said Fry, who watched the results at Eight ¥ Restaurant Lounge in Mount Pleasant with about 100 support- ers, including Green Party Coun. Adriane Carr. I absolutely believe that when people have 10 councillors to vote for fin the next election] they're go- ing to elect me and Pete,” Carr said. Jacquie Miller, the Green Party‘s campaign manager, said the party has to carefully plan its strategy for the 2018 election and decide how many candidates to run. “We ran three for council last time, and we elected one, but both of the other two [Fry and Cleta Brown] came very close," Miller said. Activist mulls career after sixth loss IDEA Vancouver candi- date, Jamie Lee Hamil- ton, lands last place in byelection race By SASHA ZEIDLER C ommunity activist Jamie Lee Hamilton says her fu- ture in Vancouver politics is up in the air after her sixth attempt to get elected in 21 years fell short in Saturday's byelection. just thought in this election we had so much going for us." Hamilton has a long-standing history of advocacy for LGBTQ_ people, sex trade workers, Indig- enous people and at-risk youth. She focused her campaign on di- minishing bullying in schools and educating young people about the dangers of drug use and the city's opioid crisis. “It’s very hard to win when youre not part of a party,” said Hamilton's financial agent Kyle Si- munovic, who has worked on sev- Hamilton, eral campaigns over who ran with nt the years. IDEA Van- | "I've run anumber In 1996, Hamil- couver in the . ton became the first Oct. 14 race, of times and you get transgender woman finished last tir e d " to run for a seat on of 19 candi- ° city council. She dates seeking one of nine spots on the Vancouver school board. Results showed she won 2.7 per cent of the vote. "I've run a number of times and you get tired,” said Hamilton, who was joined Saturday night by a dozen friends at the Coast Plaza Hotel and Suites to watch the re- sults. “At the same time, at a per- sonal level, it doesn’t make me feel good to be coming in last place. ..I ACTIVIST —JAMIE LEE HAMILTON, COMMUNITY placed 14th out of 58 candidates. She ran again for a spot on the park board in 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2014. Connie Fogal, a former Cana- dian Action Party leader, said she hopes her friend will run again in a future election. “If she chooses not to, she’s paid her dues," said Fogal, who was among Hamilton's supporters at the hotel. Jamie Lee Hamilton on election night at the Coast Plaza Hotel and Suites. PHOTO BY SASHA ZEIDLER