(Le texte français suit le texte anglais)
Sarah Gabrielle Baron
Dear SGI Greens,
It’s been a rollercoaster week on the campaign trail. I was deeply disappointed to learn Lorraine Rekmans left us. I strongly suggest every Green read her resignation letter.
One do-able response to our internal turmoil, is to provide an easy-to-access ‘”reporting and supporting” system whereby members who have been injured can report their incident, then within that same day get a phone call to make sure they are okay, and receive help working through next steps. These steps should already be clearly laid out in a transparent workflow. Every incident is different, but most can be grouped into categories and workflows suggested accordingly. We have a huge bank of social service expertise within the Green family, and activating these volunteers would be key in ensuring this framework is safe, equitable, and forward-thinking. I applaud the Federal Councillors, volunteer and staff supports, the Indigenous People’s Advisory Circle, and volunteer-based Action Teams that have been working hard on this and other Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion methodologies for months. If you have not read it yet, please refer to Lorraine’s last email to us, “Building resilience in the Green Party” dated September 7th. My promise to Greens is to support and continue this work until fruition. In the meantime, my leader’s office will have a “reporting and supporting” framework in place on day one, for all member issues that relate to activities of the leader’s office.
The day after learning of Lorraine Reckman’s resignation, I met with two prominent Canadians: Setsuko Thurlow and Duke Redbird. Setsuko is a Hiroshima survivor, and a Nobel Peace prize laureate on nuclear weapons non-proliferation. She and I spoke about the failure of Canada and other states to renew the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) the week prior, and the refusal of Canada to support the Treaty on the Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Greens have been calling for Canada to get out of NATO since 1988. We know that the United Nations is the place for our peacekeeping efforts. This important Member-made policy will experience world-wide Green collaboration with my leadership. We will make our planet a nuclear weapons-free zone.
Duke Redbird is a prominent Anishinabek Elder who has always advocated for self-government. We talked about 1982, section 35 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and I let him know about our Party’s adoption of Lorraine Reckman’s motion, “Align Canada’s constitution with UNDRIP”. As a life-long teacher and learner of Indigenous perspectives of our shared treaty history, I enter the national arena on Crown-Indigenous relations from a place of respect, humility, and confidence.
Of all the interviews and press conferences to far, I am most excited to share my interview with “Ellected” feminist political podcast. With podcaster Sarah Elder l-Chamanara.
Please feel free to email myself and my team at SGB@greenparty.ca. If you like what you see in my platform and press releases so far, please consider supporting my campaign.
Yours in Green solidarity,
~ Sarah Gabrielle Baron
Simon Gnocchini-Messier
Good Sunday Morning!
It is Simon Gnocchini-Messier, again speaking to you from Quebec. As a candidate for the leadership of the Green Party of Canada, I am increasingly asked what I would do to get the party out of its current crisis of confidence and prepare it for winning seats in the next federal election. Well, this is why I think that we are in this quagmire and these are my solutions.
There is no doubt in my mind that we have strayed from our six core values. Instead of practicing what we preach in terms of resolving differences of opinion, policy and personal styles in a mature and responsible fashion, we have allowed in the noxious practice of amplifying grievances through the mass media. This is not unlike what other parties have done, but it is definitely not “doing politics differently.” We need to dial back the rhetoric and restore mutual respect. More importantly, we need to reassert our faith in the party’s institutions built by the members: our Constitution, the Federal Council, the position of Party Leader, the Green Party of Canada Fund and the Ombuds and Appeals Committee.
As I speak with Greens across Canada, I realize that it is not the members who have strayed from our Green Values. On the contrary, the ordinary members are mature and responsible people who give each other the benefit of the doubt, listen to each other and resolve differences in a respectful manner. However, many are now feeling abandoned and discouraged by the events of the last year. Many have left the party.
My first priority, if I am elected Leader, will be to invest my time in reaching out to the membership across Canada, to support them and to empower them to rebuild their electoral district associations. I intend to in the first year visit all the active EDAs, listen to members, do door-to-door campaigns to attract new members and speak to the local media. In years two and three, I will focus on establishing new EDAs in ridings where we are not present. Most importantly, I will work to revamp the candidate vetting process to ensure that it does not prevent strong local candidates with the support of their EDAs from running for office. As the leader, I will put an end to the suppressing of dissent within the party and the purging of dissidents from the party. As leader, it will be my job to listen to and respect both the majority views and the minority views in the party. And I take that responsibility very seriously.
In a united party built on empowered EDAs, volunteers will step forward, donations will flow and an esprit de corps will catapult us forward to meet head-on the traditional parties to win the confidence of Canadians.
Thank you, Merci, Meegwech, HÍ SW KE
Simon Gnocchini-Messier
Elizabeth May
Good Sunday Morning!
It has been a tumultuous week – but maybe not for the reasons you think. 
With the death of our Queen, Parliament had a special session on Thursday – the same day I had a commitment to speak in Washington DC on the climate emergency. I emailed the Speaker and Liberal House leader, securing the Green MPs right to speak.
John and I were on a train from Toronto to New York while Mike Morrice and I were trying to sort out which of us would speak. Because I have met members of the Royal family, Mike thought I should do it. I prepared for giving two big speeches on Thursday.
Panic City! A half hour before the Prime Minister’s speech, when I tried to log in to parliament on zoom, I was rejected! Even with help of the House of Commons IT staff, I could not get in. I had not properly set up my log-in for being outside of Canada. I phoned Mike to ask if he could do it after all. He was on his bike. I started writing up some notes for him as he cycled home! And, great teamwork! He and his team pulled it off. I would have loved a video of his bike ride time-stamped with seven minutes later, “Thank you Mr. Speaker.”
That brings me to why it mattered that one of us was there. As Green MPs we punch way above our weight. Even without the right to speak, on issues like climate, housing and the urgency to address poverty levels in the differently-abled community, we intervene more than any other opposition party. So when the House leaders all agree that we Greens will be speaking – on any issue – we need to be there. And with the flurry of negative stories this week, we really needed to be there.
I will not get into the recent bad news for us. Just to say a big thank you to Lorraine Rekmans for all her work as President, to Amita Kuttner for sacrificing so much as interim Leader and to all the amazing volunteers working on council, various teams and committees. I will share that I am 100% sure we will get through this and elect more Greens in the next election. Please help me and Jonathan Pedneault to be the strong and effective leadership team the party so urgently needs.
We hope you will join us this Friday, September 23 (7:30 pm ET, 4:30 pm BC) for an open, honest and direct conversation with Jonathan and me for an ’“Ask us anything!” format on ZOOM:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3775856731?pwd=MUZRUmczQkExV24xTHNFTzhUcGlzUT09
We do not have access to member emails, so please help us share this invitation!
Please consider a donation to Jonathan and me. You are able to donate a combined total of $1675 to the leadership candidates – as in you can give $837.50 to Jonathan and the same to me! Half of all donations go to the Green Party of Canada.
Love and best for the week ahead,
Elizabeth
Jonathan Pedneault
I come to politics with a healthy distrust of those who claim to know it all. And with an impostor syndrome of sorts.
After all, isn’t politics the art of pretending as though one knows it all? Isn’t politics a place where one is supposed to argue and convince instead of listening and asking questions? It sometimes seems so, and that isn’t who I am or want to become.
The last week has been distressing for many Greens. First, we heard of Poilièvre’s election as Conservative leader. Then of our president resigned. For a day, Vancouver had the worst air quality of anywhere on the planet. And despite good-hearted attempts at reconciliation within our party, it is clear that we still have much to learn from one another.
Self-questioning is a personality trait I value. So is honesty, and here you have it. A few times over the past week, I wondered in anger: What sort of a political party does this to itself? I left critical human rights work abroad to work with individuals committed to protecting Canada and future generations. Not to deal with cannibalistic bickering.
It took a good deal of self-reflection, empathy and listening to begin to understand a few things. I won’t pretend that I understand it all yet, because I don’t. But entertain me for a second and then, please, help me understand better by contacting me at jp@jonathanpedneault.ca
Here’s my initial take away:
- This party is filled with people who’ve got their hearts in the right place, and are putting in countless hours.
- The last two years have been isolating.
- Volunteers dealt with the 2021 post-election crisis, and did so at a distance, over long, frustrating Zoom calls.
- Often, the only rewards they got were the occasional angry emails or attacks on social media.
Now add COVID and a growingly distrustful and divisive discourse throughout Canada to the mix, and you end up with individuals who feel unheard or tricked or attacked.
At the start of this campaign, I told members in Victoria it was high time we stopped navel gazing and focused on what Canadians need from us. I still think so, but last week imposed on us all to take a pause and engage in some reckoning. A functional, clear internal governance model that doesn’t chew up, exhaust and spit away its volunteers is key if we are to succeed.
It won’t be an easy job and I did feel some despair last week. But oddly enough, I came back to this video I shot at the beginning of the race and it reminded me of why I am a Green.
This is the kind of leader I promise to be. One who takes pause in difficult times, to make the right choices, for people and the planet.
To each of you out there who wonders whether or not you still are Green after last week’s turmoil, I hope you too are reminded why you are still in this fight.
To randomize order within GSM: Sept 18 – alphabetical order by surname – Gabrielle Baron, Gnocchini-Messier, Keenan, May, Pednault, Walcott; Sept 25, reverse alphabetical order by surname – Walcott, Pednault, May, Keenan, Gnocchini-Messier, Gabrielle Baron.
(text français)
Simon Gnocchini-Messier
Bon dimanche matin!
C’est Simon Gnocchini-Messier, qui vous parle à nouveau du Québec. En tant que candidat à la Chefferie du Parti Vert du Canada, on me demande de plus en plus souvent ce que je ferais pour sortir le parti de sa crise de confiance actuelle et le préparer à gagner des sièges aux prochaines élections fédérales. Eh bien, voici pourquoi je pense que nous sommes dans ce bourbier et voici mes solutions.
Il ne fait aucun doute dans mon esprit que nous nous sommes éloignés de nos six valeurs fondamentales. Au lieu de mettre en pratique ce que nous prêchons en termes de résolution des différences d’opinion, de politique et de styles personnels d’une manière mature et responsable, nous avons permis la pratique nocive d’amplifier les griefs par le biais des médias. Cela n’est pas différent de ce que d’autres partis ont fait, mais ce n’est certainement pas “faire de la politique différemment”. Nous devons mettre un frein à la rhétorique et restaurer le respect mutuel. Plus important encore, nous devons réaffirmer notre foi dans les institutions du parti construites par les membres : notre Constitution, le Conseil fédéral, le poste de chef du parti, le Fonds du Parti vert du Canada et le Comité d’appel et de médiation.
En parlant avec les Verts à travers le Canada, je me rends compte que ce ne sont pas les membres qui se sont éloignés de nos valeurs vertes. Au contraire, les membres ordinaires sont des personnes matures et responsables qui se donnent le bénéfice du doute, s’écoutent les uns les autres et résolvent les différends de manière respectueuse. Cependant, beaucoup se sentent maintenant abandonnés et découragés par les événements de l’année dernière. Beaucoup ont quitté le parti.
Ma première priorité, si je suis élu chef, sera d’investir mon temps à rejoindre les membres partout au Canada, pour les accompagner et leur donner les moyens de rebâtir leurs associations de circonscription. Au cours de la première année, j’ai l’intention de visiter toutes les ACE actives, d’écouter les membres, de faire du porte-à-porte pour attirer de nouveaux membres et de parler aux médias locaux. Au cours des deuxième et troisième années, je me concentrerai sur la création de nouvelles ACE dans les circonscriptions où nous ne sommes pas présents. Plus important encore, je m’efforcerai de réorganiser le processus d’examen des candidatures afin de m’assurer qu’il n’empêche pas des candidats locaux solides, soutenus par leur ACE, de se présenter aux élections. En tant que chef, je mettrai fin à la suppression de la dissidence au sein du parti et à la purgation des dissidents du parti. En tant que chef, j’aurai pour tâche d’écouter et de respecter à la fois les opinions majoritaires et minoritaires du parti. Et je prends cette responsabilité très au sérieux.
Dans un parti uni construit sur des ACE habilitées, les bénévoles se présenteront, les dons afflueront et un esprit de corps nous catapultera vers l’avant pour affronter de front les partis traditionnels et gagner la confiance des Canadiens.
Merci, Thank you, Meegwech, HÍ SW KE.
Simon Gnocchini-Messier