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VICTORIA — Andrew Weaver left the Green party caucus as scheduled on Monday and now sits as an independent member of the B.C. legislature.

Independence day for the former Green leader also provided an apt illustration of his divergence from other members of the party that he put on the provincial political map.

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As it happened, morning ferry service on southern Vancouver Island was disrupted by protesters who staged a blockade in sympathy with Indigenous hereditary leaders fighting the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline in northern B.C.

Weaver, who represents Oak Bay in the provincial capital region, readily criticized the protest as a counterproductive inconvenience to his constituents and the travelling public.

“I’m probably the strongest and most outspoken person on natural gas and LNG in B.C., “ Weaver told host Al Ferraby on CFAX radio in Victoria. “But I just don’t think that is the way that you get your message across. Sadly, what I think you’re going to do is turn people off against the importance of actually reducing GHG emissions.”