Kelowna Greens Vote to Endorse Liberal to Oust Tory MP

The Kelowna Lake-Country Greens have voted to co-operate with the local Liberal candidate in a bid to bolster his chances of unseating Conservative incumbent Ron Cannan.

Last night, the local Green membership nominated Gary Adams to be their candidate, who says he will step down to endorse Liberal candidate Stephen Fuhr. Before that can happen, he needs to be confirmed as a candidate by the Green Party Federal Council.

Fuhr has promised to promote stronger environmental policies and wants to sign a memorandum of understanding -- still a draft text at this point -- between himself, the riding association, and Adams that would grant him a formal endorsement from the local Greens.

The co-operation agreement raises a number of questions about how Fuhr would reconcile policy differences between two different federal parties, how much extra support this might grant him during the campaign, and what will happen locally with the Green Party name and logo during the campaign.

Will Fuhr, for instance, get to put his name next to it along with the Liberal logo, or advertise with multiple signs?

Local Green activist Dan Ryder, who cooked up the co-operation agreement idea, said in a previous interview that while it's still not clear how all the details will get worked out, the local Greens would somehow advertise the relationship with the local electorate.

''Our members want the Green Party logo to play a role in the campaign,'' he said, adding they'll need to obtain permission from party HQ.

Party reviewing process: Green spokesman

Federal Green Party spokesperson Julian Morelli said the idea for an agreement or MOU between local candidates is new and the party is reviewing the process. He emphasized that this was a local riding decision and that nationally the party has no overall plan to support the Liberals specifically.

''The Green Party is still the party that believes fundamentally in grassroots democracy. There's no master plan with the Green Party to support or preference any party, whether it's the Liberals, NDP or anyone.''

Even if the co-operation effort goes ahead, Fuhr has maintained that a major part of his campaign effort will be highlighting his long-time conservative values with voters.

''Since this riding is, and has been, so conservative for so long, my success will mostly likely depend on my ability to market reality to the progressive and fiscal conservatives,'' he said.

Kelowna Lake-Country has traditionally leaned right, and has voted in Conservative, Reform and Alliance MPs since its creation in 1997.