The Volunteer Spotlight is back! For those who read the weekly series, it has been reimagined into a monthly series that will be highlighting our wonderful volunteers who dedicate countless hours to the betterment of the BC Green Party. The awesome volunteers featured in this series are interviewed by BC Green Party staff member Dev Percey.
Chris Pettingill was a former volunteer of the chair for provincial council for the B.C. Green Party. He became involved with the B.C. Green Party because he was concerned about the Site C Dam and fracking. Pettingill believes the B.C. Greens understand these particular environmental issues more than the other provincial parties. He is inspired by the MLAs in the B.C. Green Party caucus: Sonia Furstenau and Adam Olsen.
Pettingill is currently a city councillor for Squamish. Some of the major issues in Squamish are climate action, dense development, and housing affordability. The goals Pettingill wanted to achieve were affordable housing and to make sure everyone is taken care of. His plan to manage these issues was to pay attention to livability and show people when tackling climate change how living will improve. As a graduate from engineering at McMasters University, Pettingill has no favorite type of Green Technology as the way to mitigate the impacts on climate change. He says, “I like to stay away from that if we do one thing that will be the solution. We have to look at the circumstances and what is the best Green technology. Is it hydro or solar energy?”
As an experienced volunteer Pettingill, also shares his opinion about volunteering. Pettingill thinks that it can be a lot of fun. It is easy to meet a lot of incredible people. He says, “When you volunteer it sets you up for professional life, you can get experience right away." He says, "it is a real advantage.” Pettingill hopes that his experience inspires others.
For more information on how you can get involved with the BC Green Party, visit bcgreens.ca/volunteer.