Eden’s campaign in Cowichan Valley Citizen, August 19 2024

Eden Haythornthwaite, a former chairwoman of the Cowichan Valley school board, will run as an independent socialist candidate in the Cowichan Valley riding in the provincial election in October.

Haythornthwaite, who has lived in Duncan for more than 45 years, said it has been a dreadful year, full of war and genocide around the world, and many are feeling a genuine need to push back against the status-quo responsible for so much misery and cruelty, so she and her team is stepping up to campaign for the next provincial election in the Cowichan Valley riding.

“We desperately need voice and action from the left to push back against the relentless demands of the rich and the powerful,” she said. “We must establish a campaign which speaks to the needs of all our communities. Our resources are usurped for the sake of profit for a very few. Our ability to challenge climate catastrophe and deep inequality is thwarted by those who are motivated only by money and privilege.”

Haythornthwaite said she is running on a platform which demands freedom and justice, the essentials of life, political rights for everyone, indigenous nationhood and an end to war.

“The means by which we can rise to all these vital challenges will come from taxing the rich and ending all corporate welfare,” she said. “The wealth which ordinary workers have created over all the generations can and should be managed for the benefit of those who created the wealth in the first place. The best people to do this are the workers themselves.”

Haythornthwaite said the crises provoked by society’s ruling class are overwhelming our lives. She said people can care for their children and grandchildren by fighting for their present and their future now and without compromise.

She is inviting people to join her election team.

“We will be out in the community over the coming weeks and plan to operate a floating office in various locations to meet and greet you and answer your questions,” Haythornthwaite said.

The candidates so far in the Cowichan Valley in the provincial election include John Koury, who is running for the Conservative Party, the NDP's Debra Toporowsky, the Green Party's Cammy Lockwood, and the BC United's Jon Coleman.

Sonia Furstenau, the BC Green Party leader who is the current MLA for the Cowichan Valley, announced earlier this year that she intends to run in the Victoria-Beacon Hill riding in October's election.

This article was originally published in the Cowichan Valley Citizen. Read it here.