The PQB News will be running candidate submissions for every candidate running in the Parksville-Qualicum riding. The following is the submission filed by B.C. Green Party candidate Rob Lyon.
Growing up as the son of a baker I could think of nothing more in life than going to work each day and eating cakes and cookies, but my real love I discovered in high school was physics. I went to university to study physics but switched to computer science and fell in love all over again.
I got married, had five children, and completed a Master’s degree in digital technologies.
I am a passionate person who has always stayed busy.
I love my children and became a scoutmaster, volunteering for 25 years serving in Cubs, Scouts, and Ventures. I am one with nature; scouting taught me the importance of preserving our environment. I followed Baden Powell’s teachings of leave no trace.
In 2004 I started building houses; in 2015 I studied building science and in 2017 I learned about the Passive House standard; I had a new passion.
My wife and I started fostering children in need 10 years ago. We have helped more than 50 children who were in care by providing a loving stable safe home. In doing so we got to know and understand the parents. Some we were able to help. We became acutely aware of the plight of those suffering from mental illness and addiction.
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I watched the news as Premier Horgan announced this election. I was astounded that he could use this time of sickness and hardship for his benefit. His eyes seemed greedy with the thought of power, with his numbers up in popularity and with only the two-day-old leader of the Green Party, Sonia Fursteneau, standing between him and four years of a majority government. I was incensed by his rudeness. She had no candidates to run and no time to do much about it.
Is this the way we do things in Canada? NO! I called Sonia’s campaign and offered to volunteer. I was telling them about myself and it occurred to me that I was passionate enough about my beautiful province to run to protect it. Will you run to serve the people? So I thought, I have served my country for 25 years in the military, I have served my community by being a Scout leader for 25 years, fostering children in need for 10 years and building and living in a Passive House.
This week my eyes were opened to the disaster that political parties have become. The calling of an election for political gain amid a global pandemic is just foolish and irresponsible. It was the straw that forced me to ask, “Just who am I, anyway?”
A question we should all be asking ourselves.
My conclusion was that in my heart I am a conservationist and as Green as they come. I had to be true to myself. So I stepped up and dove in. I discovered I had a new passion.
Bring your passion to this election, vote Green!