Welcome to the June SGI Newsletter – it’s Summer Solstice and National Indigenous Peoples Day as well, so a very special day.
We have a note from Elizabeth, news about participating in the Victoria Pride Parade and Festival this weekend with Elizabeth, a wonderful Green Salt Spring Island event July 2nd, opportunities to get involved with Federal Council and the GPC, and much, much more.
Victoria Pride will take place this coming Sunday, June 26th, so we’ve placed it near the top. Elizabeth and Greens from around the area will take part, and we hope you will join us. Read on for details…..
Notes from Elizabeth
Today, National Indigenous Peoples Day, is the longest day of the year- Solstice. We had a major announcement today as Greens. At 10 am ET, Mike Morrice and I joined interim leader Amita Kuttner on the grounds of Parliament Hill to welcome two new Deputy Leaders! We have not had any Deputy Leaders since fall of 2020, even though it is a defined position in our Constitution. I am very excited to meet and welcome (drum roll please) Luc Jolicoeur and Rainbow Eyes (Angela Davidson). Luc has been a candidate for us, most recently in 2021 in Huntsman-Cartierville. He is a well-known and well-liked Quebec Green.
Many SGI members will know Rainbow Eyes. She is a member of the Da’naxda’xw-Awaetlala First Nation from the area near Knight Inlet on Vancouver Island. Rainbow Eyes is a well-known forest defender at Fairy Creek. She has been arrested many times and was the first of the valiant Fairy Creek defenders to be jailed. This profile of her was published in the National Observer.
It is so appropriate that Amita chose June 21 for the big announcement. The Green Party is now the first party to have an Indigenous Deputy Leader (we were also the first party to have a Black Deputy when Georges Laraques, former NHL star player accepted my offer). We are also the first party to have an Indigenous President – Lorraine Rekmans, Serpent River First Nation (elected for a two year term in 2021). Plus in the council election of 2022, we are thrilled to have an Indigenous Ontario representative. Krystal Brooks has joined the council adding to the youth voice as well. She is 29 years old and just ran in the Ontario election for the GPO in Simcoe North. She got quite a lot of media after her signs were defaced. Her Anishnaabemowin name is Biiwaabik Nibi Kwe, which means Still Water Woman. Her own bio includes a heart-breakingly brief reference to having survived the child welfare system, human trafficking, alcoholism and addiction — as well as homelessness. And she has decided to put her energies into the Green Party. Just amazing.
So that makes three Indigenous members of our federal council (DL’s are non-voting members of council). Under Lorraine’s leadership, there is now an Indigenous Peoples’ Advisory Council to advise the party. They spearheaded proposed constitutional changes, that, once they are fully ratified, will change the constitution to add three Indigenous reps to the council- one Metis, one First Nations and one Inuk. So that will make 6 members of Council who are Indigenous – three guaranteed under our Constitution.
I am really excited about this direction to de-colonialize our party and our approach.
Achieving diversity by better including voices from equity-seeking groups is not an end in itself. It is not a Green mission in the way getting rid of fossil fuels and saving old growth forests is a Green mission. It is just so clear that movements that are predominantly white and privileged are never going to change the world. Nor are we walking the talk of solidarity for those whose rights are abused.
Changing the world happens when we get to root causes – like patriarchy, misogyny and racism. That is why I am really pleased that I think we will (hopefully soon) have the third Green Party law passed in parliament. Our first was my Lyme Disease bill back in 2014. The second was the bill to ban keeping whales in captivity. Now C-226, my bill to confront environmental racism and to promote environmental justice is getting widespread support. You can read more here.
The vote to send the bill to committee and study it will take place tomorrow – June 22. Keep your fingers crossed!
Victoria Pride Parade and Festival 2022
The Victoria Pride Parade and Festival in the Park are back! They are going ahead this Sunday, June 26th at 11 am.
Please join Elizabeth and Greens from SGI and the Greater Victoria area in the parade! Dress in some flashy Green and come for the parade and festival fun! Click here for details of the Parade (including route map) and Festival in the Park.
Can you help?
- We need three people to assist Dan before the parade starts to help direct our participants to the marshaling site. Please text or phone Dan if you can help – 250-884-6709.
Meeting time and place for the parade walkers: Walkers should be in place by 10 am and we will have people dressed in green gear at one of the two following spots to direct you to our marshaling location:
- If you are walking over the Johnson St. Bridge, stay on the north side to exit and then take the overpass back over Esquimalt Road. This will give you easy access to the E&N walking trail which meets the end of Kitma Road. Look for our guide where Kitma Road meets the trail.
- If you are walking in from the Esquimalt side, look for our guide where Kimta crosses Cooperidge/ Sitkum Roads. Our Green help will be on the corner closest to the bridge which is the corner for Songhees Hillside Park.
Please note that there is no drop-off access in the staging area. Please walk in from Catherine Street/Esquimalt Road, Tyee Road the Songhees Walkway or via the Bridge. Please contact Linda if you have any questions.
Would you like to help at the Festival booth? Please email Nick here.
We really hope that you can join this amazing and fun parade on such a sunny weekend!
A celebration of summer, Elizabeth and the Green Party – a Salt Spring Island event for SGI Greens
You are cordially invited to a Green Party Party/Potluck on Salt Spring Island with Elizabeth May and friends.
Location: Lions Hall, 103 Bonnet Ave. off Drake Rd near Ganges, Salt Spring Island.
Time: a sunny summer Saturday, July 2nd 6:00 pm onwards. Elizabeth will be arriving from off-Island, and won’t likely make it to the hall before 7 pm. If you want to join from off-Island, the last ferry back to Swartz Bay leaves Fulford Harbour at 7:50 pm which means that you should head to the ferry about 7 pm or arrange overnight accommodation or a billet (see below). The later ferries from Vesuvius to Crofton are at 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm.
Elizabeth is blessed with many musical amigos and amigas, some of whom will be in attendance, among them Bill Henderson, Valdy, and Remy Rodden, a much loved children’s songster from the Yukon.
If you can help off-Island guests with billeting please let Tom know. If you live off-island and would like to find out about possible billet options, please contact Tom for details.
Bring your own beverage of choice.
Current Covid Protocols will be in place.
Please RSVP here
Hope to see you there.
Tom
250-653-4353
Note: There are two other excellent island activities (at least) to consider to round out your day:
- The amazing Saturday Salt Spring Market is always a wonderful adventure.
- The Salt Spring Island chapter of 350.org will hold an afternoon climate event here. This outdoor event will feature speakers and discussion about last year’s heat dome and floods, increasing fire risk, and opportunities for further action to end climate action delay.
GPC Federal council vacancies
Hot off the press from the GPC! Please read and consider, for yourself or someone you know…
Federal Council is looking to fill two vacancies, one is for the New Brunswick (NB) Representative and the other is for the British-Columbia (BC) Representative. We are seeking people interested in participating in and contributing to the critical decisions our party needs to rebuild following the 2021 election. We are looking for eligible people who bring a commitment to accountability, transparency and the six principles of the Green Party of Canada. We encourage people who are diverse (i.e., identify as belonging to equity seeking groups or marginalized communities), collaborative, and with legal, governance or financial experience to consider applying for these two positions.
If you need further information, please reach out to councilsupport@greenparty.ca.
For those interested in applying, please send your expression of interest (by June 28) that addresses both the eligibility and diversity criteria outlined in the GPC Federal Council Elections and Appointment Rules and the Federal Council Job description to councilsupport@greenparty.ca.
Following a transparent and accountable selection process and, as per the Federal Council Handbook, the Governance Committee will recommend the preferred candidates to Federal Council for approval.
We look forward to welcoming two more members to Federal Council to assist us in our work on behalf of membership. We hope to make announcements before July 14, 2022.
GPC Lessons learned action team- reminder
The Lessons Learned Action Team is announcing the launch of an assessment, which will include:
- gathering stories
- conducting interviews
- holding focus groups
- sending targeted stakeholder surveys
Would you be willing to help out by either volunteering to collect some of this feedback and/or answering some questions yourself?
Click here to share your unique Green story or experience using our groundbreaking story collector technology
Get involved — sign up to help on this project and join the network of story gatherers.
Visit our Project Website to watch our video, learn why this matters to you and your EDA, meet the team, and learn how to get more involved.
Old Growth: Facts and Fiction
Tuesday, June 28 at 5:30, attend this webinar by the Sierra Club to learn how to distinguish facts from fiction when it comes to old-growth in B.C. Featuring Torrance Coste, national campaign director at Wilderness Committee; Jens Wieting, senior forest and climate campaigner at Sierra Club BC; and moderator Jackie Larkin from Elders for Ancient Trees.
BC Greens News and Events
Whether or not you are one of the 900,000 British Columbians who do not have a family doctor, you are affected. Wait times in Emergency Departments are up to 8 hours long. Urgent Care Centres – where they exist – are fully booked within minutes of opening every day. If you agree that BC’s healthcare system should be public, accessible, and reliable, please read and support the BC Green’s Healthy BC Plan and chip in if you can.
Also, here is the BC Greens petition regarding the family doctor shortage – please consider signing it if you have not already done so.
Focus on Community
The Sidney by the Sea Rotary Club celebrated World Environment Day on June 5 at the Mary Winspear Centre.
SGI MP Elizabeth May led a full and entertaining speakers list for the day. Saanich North and the Islands MLA Adam Olsen hosted a discussion about local environmental actions as seen through the eyes of young women working locally who spoke of their actions, the harms they see happening and how we might address those issues..
All of the speakers were eloquent in stressing the importance of our environment and how we can work together to build a stronger and more resilient community to help reduce the drastic effects of climate change.
Promoting local initiatives is very important, and many organizations were present to demonstrate the environmental effectiveness of better buildings, heat pumps, and seaweed farming, to name a few. Environmental NGO’s were numerous and their activities are all assisting us to have a healthier and safer environment. From restoring damaged habitat on the Gulf Islands to organizing collaboration between all of the local municipal agencies, the work of our local volunteer-run NGO’s provides us all with opportunities to join these community efforts and have some fun while working with like-minded people.
As society is opening up (at least partially) after our long pandemic season, keep in mind the amazing work that these many organizations are doing on behalf of us all and consider joining a work party or sending them a donation. Your local environment is worthy of all the assistance we can provide and your support will help to secure the future for us and generations to come.
Dan Kells, CEO, Saanich-Gulf Islands EDA
Regional information
Sidney
Sidney Days Canada Day Parade
The Sidney Days Canada Day Parade takes place Friday, July 1st at 11:30am. We are looking for folks to walk with Elizabeth in her role as Member of Parliament. This is a non-partisan event, and participants are encouraged to wear red and white. If you would like to walk with Elizabeth please contact Nancy here.
Saanich
IYAḴT Music Festival
Saturday, June 25, 1:00 -8:00 pm
Braefoot Park
Come and enjoy a collection of performances with local Indigenous artists that will include Paint the Town Red, Auntie Katie & the Uncles of Funk, Lost Talkers and more. Food trucks and some local vendors will be onsite.
Are you friendly and outgoing as well as Green? Consider volunteering as a Saanich Park Ambassador. Help visitors to PKOLS (Mount Doug) Park feel safe and welcome, and to understand the importance of the ongoing habitat restoration and protection projects.
Nature lovers in Saanich might be interest in reading the latest issue of Our Back Yard. Articles include: Saanich Private Land Knotweed Treatment Program, the new Nature at Your Fingertips app, Ephemeral Ponds, Exciting Community Partnership to Revitalize Doris Page Park, People, Pets and Park Strategy.
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