PROFILE: Brad Nickason | Green

This is the second time Brad Nickason is running for politcal office in Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam.

In the 2015 federal election, he came in fourth out of five candidates.

Who is Brad Nickason?

59-years-old

Originally from Alberta; lives in Port Coquitlam

Illustrator, graphic designer and small business owner with ties to artistic and environmental groups in the Tri-Cities.

The owner of a small graphics business, Nickason wants fossil fuel divestments, change in the electoral voting system to proportional representation and First Nations reconciliation.

Website: greenparty.ca/en/riding/2013-59008

Facebook: facebook.com/brad.nickason.7

Brad Nickason, Green Coq-PoCo — Brad Nickason, Green candidate for Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam - MARIO BARTEL/THE TRI-CITY NEWS

Brad Nickason In Profile

Brad Nickason has already faced Ron McKinnon in a federal election.

Four years ago, when the Liberal candidate won the MP seat in the “red wave” with Justin Trudeau, the Greens' Nickason placed fourth out of five candidates with just 3.67% of the vote.

Since then, the Alberta-born Nickason hasn’t liked the way the Liberals have steered Canada.

There’s been continued reliance on — and investment in — fossil fuels, including the purchase (with taxpayer dollars) to expand the Trans Mountain pipeline to B.C.; policies haven’t been developed fast enough to handle the climate change crisis; and fish and mammals are suffering and dying at a faster rate than ever before, he said.

For this race, most of the political parties have got a few environmental pledges but it’s the Green Party where Nickason feels the promises will be met and kept.

A party member for six years, Nickason said he doesn’t really want to be a politician. Still, “I have this burning desire to deal with these things because people have been left out.”

In fact, the Green Party has become a home to the political disenfranchised, he said: Those unhappy with the lip service (especially on the green front); the lack of movement on electoral reform; and the need for reconciliation with Canada's First Nations.

Poverty is also a topic about which Nickason speaks passionately.

If Green Party leader Elizabeth May is elected, he said, Canadians can expect a guaranteed livable income program, universal pharmacare, affordable housing and public transit expansion.

Nickason said he’s tired hearing how people are struggling to make ends meet financially in a resource-rich G8 nation.

“Affordability is at a crisis," he said. "People feel ashamed… but it’s not their fault. Our country should be doing better.”

He also doesn’t want young adults to continue living in debt. Under the Greens, he said, post-secondary tuition would be free because “we believe that we need to invest in students and the businesses they create.”

But when asked for details of his party’s platform, Nickason was at a loss to explain how his potential constituents would benefit.

On a guaranteed livable income, the father-of-three didn't say how the program would roll out for families and seniors in his riding. He also doesn’t know much about the Kwikwetlem First Nation, which has territory within the Coquitlam and PoCo municipal boundaries, although he’s aware of its land claims.

And despite his expertise in the arts (Nickason is an Evergreen Cultural Centre board member, vice-president of the PoCo Arts Council and an alternate member of Coquitlam’s cultural advisory committee) and his party’s commitments (increase funding to arts organizations, review tax incentives for film, implement tax credit for heritage home restoration and allow tax credits for heritage land donations), Nickason said he doesn’t believe the issue is a high priority.

“It’s a different conversation especially for this election,” he said. “The environment comes first.”