Getting to know Bryan Hunt: Environmentalist, conservative business man, artist and Green Party candidate
By Andrew Zwicker
A recurring mantra of childhood fatherly advice, a deep rooted love for the region and the desire to do what’s right: Bryan Hunt’s formula for getting elected as the Green Party MP in the BC Southern Interior riding is also a formula he hopes will allow him and folks like him to spend more time in their Kootenay/Boundary hometowns.
Growing up just north of Kaslo in the small farming community of Shutty Bench helped Hunt’s parents raise an outdoor-loving business man with a passion for the environment. Following high school, like many youth in our riding, Hunt headed out of town in search of higher learning with the hopes of returning home again to set up shop in and around Kaslo. “I went to Ontario to start my school at the University of Waterloo. I took an engineering degree there. I felt ill each morning when I’d get up because there were no mountains on the horizon. That’s the just the way it is there and it wasn’t for me.” When the opportunity to move out west came up, Hunt jumped on it and was faced with the choice of relocating to Vancouver or Calgary. “I chose Calgary. It might sound silly but when people asked me where I was from, in Calgary when I said Kaslo they were like “Oh yeah, great place.” When I was in Vancouver they were like “Where’s Kaslo? Is that out near Langley somewhere? “I’m a person that is very much attached to where I grew up. The mountains, the glaciers, the lakes, you name it, that’s where I’m firmly rooted. I go back to the riding many many times every year to keep routed because that’s where my heart is.” Since the move to Hogtown Bryan has started several of his own businesses, each tailored his varied interests. Primarily working as a software writer for some of the larger companies in Calgary by day, Hunt exercises his artistic side, on the side to help keep his life in balance. In addition to writing software Bryan writes children’s stores, screenplays and produces CDs for local bands. Never far from the outdoors, he also draws on his Kootenay-grown skills and teaches wildlife tracking and wilderness survival. The ultimate search for a well balanced lifestyle is part of what is driving Hunt to move back home to his riding. “One thing I really like about the people in the Kootenays is that there are some very artistic people in the riding. There is also a real core of hard working people. People in the riding really have that balance. I don’t see that here in Calgary where I’m living currently. People are really focused and there’s not a lot of artistic things going on. I think the two worlds really complement each other. The best decisions we make in business require a creative mind and sometimes you do better with your art if you have a business mind.” With four children under the age of 11 Hunt and his wife also believe in and long for the family first attitude in the Kootenay /Boundary. “Family is prime for me. That’s maybe another thing I got growing up there well. Here [Calgary] corporations are prime. In the riding, family is the most important thing.” And speaking of family, it was the echoing of some advice his father had passed on to him as a kid that ultimately drove Hunt to seek out the Green nomination. “I grew up on an acreage and we had a farm just north of Kaslo and one of the things that my father always said to me was, ‘If you see a job that needs to be done, you better be doing that!’ It sounds strict. He really wasn’t that strict, but the point was well taken. Some of the ways I see our country going are in the wrong direction. I thought to myself. I’m not a politician, but I’m confident I can fix those problems. I heard that voice in my head. I saw a job that needed doing, and I had better be doing it. That’s where I’m coming from.” While admittedly a strong environmentalist, Hunt hasn’t always been a fan of the Green party. He supported their Green issues but was looking for more than a one issue party to support. “I was actually a big supporter of the Reform party when they were more of a grassroots party. The Green Party then shifted. They became more fiscally conservative. They started coming out with their own budgets when things were going on. Their economics made a lot of sense along with their environmental conscious. Then I said, Okay, I can get behind that. That matches my business sense and my environmentalism. It’s a grassroots party like the Reform party used to be and all of those things really meshed well for me.” The opportunity was there to run for the Green Party in Calgary; however, Hunt decided that if he was going to put his name in the hat he wanted to get serious about it and represent the riding that was closest to his heart. Drawing directly from his own experience as someone who would love to move his family back to the riding but has been unable to for lack of job opportunities, Hunt is a big advocate of job creation. Hunt believes people in the riding will be able to relate to his situation or know someone else in the same boat. “The big one for me when I talk to people at home is jobs. It’s huge. We have the highest unemployment in the province. That needs to be fixed. I can go on about how we need to fix the environment, but what we need right now is jobs, and we can do that in an environmentally friendly way.” One idea he’d like to implement would involve the federal government putting into place new laws or incentives for large corporations to have a minimum percent of their workforce telecommuting to work. It’s that type of solution that solves the economic issues in a green way that Hunt sees as the key to success for the riding. “When you do that, first it takes thousands of cars off the roads. Secondly, all of those jobs that were previously only open to people that lived in the big cities are now open to people anywhere and in our riding. People in our riding could tele-commute to these corporate jobs but live with their families in this riding. There are all sorts of creative solutions like this where we could solve many things at once.” The other area Hunt would bring his creative approach to would be health care. Seeing many opportunities for both increased service and efficiency Hunt would start with shooting for establishing a minimum standard of care so that stagnant growth areas like the Kootenay Boundary can maintain quality health care. One of Hunt’s admitted challenges is that he hasn’t been overly disappointed with the leadership in the region. That said, he’d like to bring new initiatives online as well as take the existing work that’s been done and take it a step further. He’s not a politician, and he sees that as an advantage that will allow him to bring his strong understanding of the riding and its people along with a creative approach to the job that he believes will bring the best results for the riding. “Einstein says the best definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I think that’s what’s going on in this riding and this country. It’s not that I think Alex is doing a bad job, because I think he’s actually doing an okay job. I would continue much of what he’s done but take it to the next level. I’m asking people to vote for me because I am not a politician. I’m not here to be re-elected; I’m just here to do the right thing, right now.”
Comments