Regina, SK: Green Party candidate Victor Lau will give his best to win Regina–Wascana, but his real goal is to open minds on the merits of a universal basic income (UBI)..“I hope to improve on the last federal vote, just to do a good showing. If we can knit together disaffected rural voters with disaffected New Democrats, I think we may find some breakthroughs,” Lau told the Western Standard..“It’s putting out a message more than actual trying for the seat, because we’re labeled the Green Party, the easiest way to rise to power would be an environmental catastrophe. If there’s nothing happening on the environment (it would be) unlikely to get a Green in unless you’re really, really popular, like if we ran [former Regina mayor] Pat Fiacco or somebody like that that maybe converted to Greenism.”.Lau has a profile of his own: He helped found the Saskatchewan Green Party in 1999 and led the provincial party in 2006 and again from 2011 to 2016..One of Lau’s favorite memories as Green leader was a twitter exchange with then- Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall..“I said, ‘Well, as the Green Party leader, I have no problem supporting your position against the carbon tax. We have too many taxes. We’re trying to get rid of carbon, if that’s the problem. Why wouldn’t we look at the source, the largest sources of carbon emissions and find a solution? Nothing needs to be another tax. In fact, we don’t know if the tax is even working,’” he recalled..“I have the distinction — I believe I’m the only Green Party leader possibly in the world that has stood against the carbon tax.”.The former UFCW shop steward ran in five provincial general elections and two by-elections and is currently the provincial Greens’ deputy leader. Lau was motivated to run federally because of his enthusiasm for the Green’s platform plank of a UBI, a concept which Greens are endorsing around the world. He believes artificial intelligence could displace jobs and make the concept increasingly important..“It would start out at $2,000 a month if you had no job. If you got a job that paid you $1,000 a month, then it would reduce to $1,700, and so on…Once you hit $6,000 or more a month, well, the government basically says, ‘Look, do you really need any handout from us? I mean, you’re making $6,000 a month, that’s comfortable.’”.Lau says a UBI could cancel complicated government programs..Lau, an assistant for NDP-turned-independent MP Erin Weir until his term ended in 2019, found working with Ottawa’s army of civil servants to be a mixed experience..“You wouldn’t need EI necessarily, you wouldn’t need a whole bunch of programming. You could get rid of a bunch of departments that are just redundant, right?” Lau said..“These bureaucrats, some of them are very friendly, they will work with you, and others are just downright stubborn. And they shouldn’t have the job they have because all they see themselves as ruthless gatekeepers, and they’re not suffering. They don’t feel the pain [when] that senior gets cut off.”.Now Lau just has to convince voters. He says he can’t always reach voters who chose incumbent Conservative Michael Kram in 2019..“The open-heart Conservatives, they’re just gonna they tell you, ‘I’ve got my party, I’m voting for Conservative. Thank you very much.’ And they usually don’t take the literature. Then there’s the soft ones that [say], ‘Anybody but J.T.’ So that sounds like they’re not going to vote Liberal but they’re open to voting anything else,” Lau said..Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole made tax reform a plank of his party’s platform, something Lau says he has told Conservatives to do for years. “Make it a lot more transparent and efficient so that it actually creates more uptick in the economy, rather than dragging down businesses, dragging down consumers,” Lau said..Lau thinks O’Toole might win and the national race “will be interesting to watch.” What disappoints him is the People’s Party Leader couldn’t tangle with party leaders on the national stage..“I’m really upset with Maxime Bernier not allowed in the debate. My left-wing friends are like, ‘Are you crazy?’ Look, is this a democracy? Or is this a kind of oligopoly? What re we talking about here?..[The PPC is] running more candidates than the Greens, so doesn’t that deserve something?” asked Lau..“It’s not a democracy. I don’t know what the hell you call it, but it’s so frustrating.”.See more WS coverage of Ralph Goodale’s former riding of Regina–Wascana: Conservative Michael Kram vs. PPC Mario Milanovski and Liberal Sean McEachern..Lee Harding is a Saskatchewan-based correspondent for Western Standard
