Thirty joined this ASK Salt Spring gathering to lovingly welcome MP Elizabeth May. She began our time together with an acknowledgement of her honour and gratitude to be working with First Nations whose sheer grit have given them the strength to survive past and ongoing colonial oppression.

After going around the circle with introductions from participants, some with many decades of living on Salt Spring to our newest just married guests who have been here only two weeks, we asked Elizabeth what “excites and delights” her. For her, while politics is important, what excites her the most are her rich relationships, beginning with her beloved daughter, just turned 34, her amazing 8-month granddaughter, and her husband, now married six happy years. 

Elizabeth is also delighted with the relationships she has built through ASK Salt Spring, reminding us that this weekly local forum is unique in Canada. While we may believe that only we gain from our times together, she believes that she, and the other elected officials who regularly join us, gain far more than they give. 

She is also delighted to be a Member of Parliament during these challenging times. Sharing how easy it is to get distracted by actions from our neighbour to the south, she is determined to remain focused on improving Canada. She is committed to employing her considerable energies and wisdom to address the needs of her Saanich-Gulf Islands riding, reminding us that she is our employee. 

Firstly, Elizabeth spoke of the upcoming BC Green election. We learned that the election is coming soon on September 13, that one can register to vote until August 10^, and that there is a virtual Town Hall on August 7at 7:00pm (https://bcgreens.ca/leadership-contest/). Elizabeth is thrilled to have three such wonderful choices in Emily Lowan, Jonathan Kerr, and Adam Bremner-Akins.

When a participant asked about the makeup of Parliament, we learned that there are now 342 Member of Parliament (MP) seats, representing five parties: the Liberals with four seats short of a majority at 169, Conservatives at 143, Bloc Québécois at 22, NDP at 7, and Greens at 1.

The next question asked about the promotion of public charging stations for Electric Vehicles (EVs). Elizabeth recalled with a smile attending a ribbon-cutting some years ago of the first charging station in her riding – at ArtSpring! Reminding us that combustion engines are our biggest source of greenhouse gasses, she is concerned that Prime Minister Mark Carney is “pulling the plug” on EVs.

In Elizabeth’s opinion, we need to also move beyond support of EVs to providing public transit for all Canadian citizens. She is distressed that too many simply cannot get where they need to go using public transportation. We need to do better. This point had been clearly illustrated when participants introduced themselves at the start of our gathering: One noted that she had graduated from the building in which we were sitting in 1973 and that, in two weeks, she was moving to Langford, largely because our bus system was not meeting her needs.

Elizabeth was asked if it was true that Transport Canada had banned towed EVs from being transported on BC Ferries. This participant asked about Salt Springers needing off-Island EV service. Elizabeth promised to write to the Minister of Transportation and International Trade, Chrystia Freeland, to protest the unfairness of this rule. 

A participant asked what our Green Party could learn from other countries about increasing their federal seat count. While the reasons they have won more seats are multi-faceted, the simplest explanation is that other countries have adopted a different electoral system by replacing “First Past the Post” with Proportional Representation (PR). In Elizabeth’s opinion, first past the post encourages competition rather than cooperation. In this system in which larger parties tend to dominate, the Green perspective can get smothered. With PR, collaboration is the key to survival and progress. 

We were reminded that the BC Special Committee of Democratic and Electoral Reform is currently meeting with written submissions accepted until July 25, 2025, at 2:00 pm. For more information on the perspective of a member of this committee, our MLA Rob Botterell, you may want to see the report from his recent visit with us: https://asksaltspring.com/2025/07/04/this-is-how-government-should-work/).  

A participant asked Elizabeth what she should think of our new Prime Minister, Mark Carney. Elizabeth shared that she, too, is confused. Although she has known Mark for many years, she was disappointed that he did not reach out to the Bloc, NDP, and Greens to form his government, instead allying with the Conservatives. 

Elizabeth fears our Prime Minister’s focus on fast action to address threats from the US may be diverting him from the analysis needed for substantive change. She cited monopolistic provincial utilities driving decisions rather than the needs of local and First Nations communities. Why are we allowing BC Hydro, for example, to drown out those important conversations about solar energy? While the EU can plug Ukraine into its electricity grid in a matter of months, Nova Scotia is still burning coal. What is wrong with this picture? 

She is concerned that we are entering a new nuclear arms race, with 5% of our Gross Domestic Product allocated to defense. 

What about the reversal of the Digital Tax (https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2025/06/canada-rescinds-digital-services-tax-to-advance-broader-trade-negotiations-with-the-united-states.html)?

Elizabeth expects Prime Minister Mark Carney’s actions to be fast and decisive, but she is concerned that his blank check for action conflicts with our centuries-old democratic traditions. Smart and capable, Prime Minister Mark Carney appears to Elizabeth to be employing Henry VIII-like powers to govern. She fears that he is taking the role of a CEO rather than that of an elected and representative Prime Minister. She hopes that, after this initial flurry of action, our new Prime Minister will see Members of Parliament as his teammates, rather than as waste of his time, becoming more accessible to them. 

A participant applauded Elizabeth for her support of a project dear to her heart: the rebuilding of the Beaver Point Wharf (https://elizabethmaymp.ca/letter-on-rebuilding-the-historic-beaver-point-wharf-on-salt-spring-island/). Once the centre of Island transport, this wharf was demolished in the 1950s (https://saltspringapplefestival.org/welcome-to-the-salt-spring-apple-festival-website/history/img_0002_2/). This participant reminded us that this wharf could be a critical south end escape route in time of disaster. She believes that an evacuation plan that depends only upon our limited roads is shortsighted, creating the scenario for mass gridlock and tragedy. Encouraging us to support water evacuation when disasters threaten, she has hope that Canada will rebuild this important wharf. 

As our time together was coming to an end, the disturbing, complicated, and environmentally-disastrous anchoring of multiple freighters in our waters was briefly-discussed. A participant asked what we could do to address this problem. Elizabeth encouraged us to contact the Minister of Transportation and International Trade, Chrystia Freeland at chrystia.freeland@parl.gc.ca to encourage her to push Bill C-33, already read three times, to approval. 

While Elizabeth recognized that this Bill C-33, also known as the Strengthening the Port System and Railway Safety in Canada Act, (https://tc.canada.ca/en/corporate-services/transparency/briefing-documents-transport-canada/2023/current-topics/bill-c-33-strengthening-port-system-railway-safety-canada-act) is not perfect, it would allow the Minister to order these vessels out of our waters. As the environmental damage, noise pollution, and navigational threat of these freighters along our shores is of great concern to many Salt Springers, it was suggested that this may be a future ASK Salt Spring topic. Stay tuned. . . .

As our time was over for this week and Elizabeth was rushing back to Vancouver, a participant who was angry with Community Services asked why Elizabeth had not responded to her concerns. Elizabeth, true to form, immediately gave this participant her card with her personal email, inviting her to continue the conversation. Elizabeth then left amid applause, with acknowledgement of her amazing depth of information, enthusiasm to continuously explore how she can better support us, tenacity in the face of complex challenges, and clear love of her life and important role in our community. (Thank you, Elizabeth!) 

(Just in case you are interested. . . .This report has been written by Gayle Baker, founder of ASK Salt Spring, currently also a Salt Spring Local Community Commissioner. It has been reviewed and edited by Elizabeth and her Team.