The Green Party’s efforts in B.C. got some extra star power this week from one of the province’s biggest exports: Pamela Anderson.
The actress toured her hometown of Ladysmith on Vancouver Island Friday to help with the campaign for Nanaimo-Ladysmith candidate Paul Manly, who’s running for re-election after his byelection win in May.
The pair stopped at a vegan restaurant for lunch and to meet with other diners before hitting the streets and encouraging people to vote Green.
“I like to support politicians I believe in,” Anderson said. “We’re just a bunch of misfits, people who are putting their neck on the line.
“You have to work extra hard to be a Green candidate,” she added. “They’ve been around for so long, and fighting for the climate longer than anybody.
“Now it’s in fashion! Compassion is in fashion.”
Manly is hoping to keep his seat in Parliament after becoming just the second elected Green MP in Canadian history, joining party leader Elizabeth May in Ottawa.
Anderson said the two have long been friends with common interests, adding Manly “walks his talk.”
The home visit came two days after she helped Vancouver East candidate Bridget Burns register voters and hand out vegan meals in the Downtown Eastside.
Anderson, who went to high school in Comox and lived in Vancouver before moving to Los Angeles to start her modeling and acting career, has made her support of the Greens clear throughout this election.
A noted environmentalist and vegan, Anderson has highlighted the party’s commitments to curbing climate change and other social issues, sharing posts from Manly and other candidates.
She’s also supported Green parties in other countries, including the U.S. and Europe.
Anderson has even waded into local environmental issues in municipal politics throughout her home province.
On Monday, she wrote an open letter on her website to Port Moody Mayor Rob Vagramov and city council, urging them to protect Bert Flinn Park from a planned road through the park.
Anderson moved back to Vancouver Island in July after most recently living in Paris, and told Manly that Ladysmith’s vegan restaurant and other green initiatives as a sign she made the right decision.
“When I pulled up the first day I came home … I said, OK, I can live here,” she said.
“This was one of the greenest cities in the world, and now everyone’s caught up, so now we have to keep pushing,” she added.
Manly is facing off in Nanaimo-Ladysmith against Liberal Michelle Corfield, Conservative John Hirst, New Democrat Bob Chamberlin, and People’s Party candidate Jennifer Clarke. Communist James Chumsa, Progressive Canadian Brian Marlatt, and independents Geoff Stoneman and Echo White are also in the race.
More information about the riding can be found here.