Jessica Wegg is the 2025 Green Party of Canada candidate for North Island-Powell River. No stranger to federal politics, Jessica also ran for the GPC in the 2021 election. She currently holds the position of shadow cabinet Critic for international Trade, according to a media release from the party.
Born in Calgary, Wegg lived there through grade seven, when her father took a position as a family doctor in a small rural community in the United States and moved his young family there. Before leaving the US, Wegg earned her master’s degree in clinical psychology at the University of Indianapolis and graduated with a law degree from Indiana University-McKinney School of Law. She has been called to the bar in BC and Ontario, and is licensed to practice law in several US jurisdictions, the release stated.
In 2020, a series of events accelerated Wegg’s young family’s plans to return to Canada (which they had been working toward since the 2016 election), and they settled in the Comox Valley, where she and her family continue to live. They love Vancouver Island and everything it has to offer, especially the outdoors, and they spend as much time there as their busy lives allow.
Wegg is a hockey mom, chair of the PAC at her son’s school, and is active in amateur theatre, dance and is learning the cello with her daughter; she is also a trained singer. On April 4th in Comox, she will be performing the arias of Mozart, Bizet, Puccini and others.
For 15 years, Wegg has focused her legal practice on advocating for the rights of all people and shedding light on the kinds of harm most of us would rather not think about. In the US, she has represented incarcerated individuals who have been denied necessary medical care and has worked to increase indigent individuals’ access to the courts. She has represented victims of police brutality and families whose loved ones were wrongfully killed by the police.
Wegg has represented survivors of sexual and physical abuse in lawsuits against the perpetrators and the institutions that allowed the abuse to happen and tried to cover it up. In Canada, she is providing criminal defense through Legal Aid BC and works in collaboration with other lawyers, most recently as part of the legal team that appealed the sentence given to deputy Green Party leader Rainbow Eyes, according to the release.
As a mother, Wegg’s concern is for the future facing young children now and the generations to follow. She recognizes climate change as a human rights issue, and has joined the Green Party of Canada because of its bold plans and clear values. Greens around the world share six core principles: ecological wisdom, non-violence, social justice, sustainability, participatory democracy and respect for diversity, the release stated.
In his endorsement of Wegg, Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault stated: “When I became familiar with Jessica’s professional background, it became instantly clear to me that she is strong MP material and will make for a fantastic representative for North Island-Powell River. Not only is she deeply committed to the riding, she brings with her an extremely solid knowledge of human rights and Indigenous law that is sorely missing in parliament.”
Join the Peak's email list for the top headlines right in your inbox Monday to Friday.