By Anjali Appadurai

Last week many of us gripped our phones late into Wednesday night, anxiously refreshing for updates about a Category 5 storm threatening to flatten large swathes of Florida. This curious mix of dread and morbid fascination is a familiar one; we’ve felt it many times in the past few years in BC. 

In recent years, BC has become ground zero for climate impacts in Canada. The 2021 heat dome took 619lives, and soon after there were devastating flooding in the Fraser Valley that decimated farmland, killed almost a million farm animals, and destroyed livelihoods. 

The destruction of farmlands is particularly significant to South Asians in BC, given the multigenerational history of Punjabi farmers and farmworkers who have shaped and built BC’s agricultural sector from the early 1900s to present day. 

When we look at this rich history in the context of accelerating weather events like wildfires and flooding, it should be clear to us that the key to surviving this moment lies our ancestral wisdom, connection to land, and deep commitment to equality. 

These core pillars of our culture should guide us when we go to the polls on October 19th. 

Deep history of South Asian anti-racist struggles in BC

There is a deep vein of transformative anti-racist politics running through our histories and legacies as South Asians in BC. From the sacrifices and courage of the 376 migrants aboard the ill-fated Komagata Maru in 1914, to the relentless organizing that led to the creation of the Canadian Farmworkers Union in BC in the 1980s, South Asian community members have been willing to stand alongside their neighbours for justice in the face of overwhelming discrimination, exclusion and harm. 

This practice of solidarity continued in 2020, when the Indian government passed three since-repealed bills that would have deregulated agricultural markets and impacted farmers’ livelihoods, triggering massive protests across India. The diaspora in BC sprang into action and solidarity protests took place in cities across the Lower Mainland and the Okanagan, many led by Punjabi community members whose families brought their ancestral farming practices to BC generations ago. 

Rustad’s dismissal of climate realities

These diasporic-led struggles have meaningfully shaped BC’s history and present, and in a few days when British Columbians head to the polls to elect our province’s next leadership, I urge us not to turn our backs on this legacy. The leader of the BC Conservatives, John Rustad, has made it clear that he barely believes that climate change is real, let alone that he is willing to take it seriously. He makes bold statements about “reigniting” BC’s economy through pro-business policies, but fails to recognize what South Asian agricultural families have known for generations: that there is no economy without the health of our land, our farms and our food.

Rustad would throw out BC’s climate plan, cut support for efficient and inexpensive low-carbon tech like heat pumps, and most worryingly, expand fracking and gas exports from BC. These are short-sighted and reactionary announcements that benefit fossil fuel corporations, not the people of BC. 

True safety means accepting the reality of our changing climate

We’re all scared for what the future may hold. That deep fear and anxiety should not push us toward a candidate who promises to take us backwards on climate action: more gas heating, more gas-powered cars, more gas exports. Rustad promises us familiarity and safety – but rest assured, that safety is a mirage. True safety lies in accepting the reality that our climate is changing and that we need to act and invest accordingly. 

Each BC summer of the last few years has seemed to bring some new catastrophe, some shattered temperature record or “new normal”. This year, after the tragic burning of Jasper, the BC election campaign period offered a chance for political parties to communicate their long-term economic vision for BC, taking into account the now-inevitable climate events that we will continue to experience year after year.What Rustad communicated was that he doesn’t have a plan for this and wants to continue as if it’s not happening.  

And while there are valid criticisms of each party, but there is only one party that is openly dabbling in conspiracy theories and vulgar, disingenuous politics. As South Asians in BC, it’s up to us to connect the dots and clearly witness Rustad’s offering on the table. Don’t let him disrespect our roots, our legacy, our history and the hard-won gains by generations of South Asian British Columbians. This October, we must vote for real climate action.