Good Sunday Morning!
(Le texte français suit le texte anglais)
Throughout the weeks of the leadership contest we hope that you enjoy these weekly insights provided by our six fantastic contestants, most of whom will contribute each week. We are also including those articles in French when provided by the contestants. The order of appearance is randomized weekly. Thank you for joining us, and please enjoy—
Leadership campaign update: Federal Council has decided to have one round of voting instead of two, concluding as planned on November 19, 2022. This will allow all 6 contestants to run their campaigns until the voting period ends in November.
The most important point is that to vote in November, you must be a Green Party member in good standing by October 19, 2022. Please check the status of your membership or become a member and help spread the word. Young Greens under 30 years of age are very welcome, and can join here. You can receive help with membership questions by calling 1-866-868-3447.
Here are this week’s messages from the six candidates, in alphabetical order by first name.
Anna Keenan
Good Sunday Morning, friends.
Following Hurricane Fiona, our household – like 30,000 on Epekwitk/Prince Edward Island – are still without grid-connected power, 8 days later. But thankfully, our nearest neighbours had power (and internet) restored yesterday, so I can get back on the virtual campaign trail from their kitchen!
This natural disaster – like those in other parts of the country and the world – has brought existing economic inequalities to the surface. As they say: “We may all be in the same storm, but we are not all in the same boat.”
Consider a well-off family… owning their own home: renovated, insulated, water-tight, and fully insured. Able to pay to have trees trimmed in advance of the storm. Owning a generator for when the grid goes down, and a large fridge-freezer, with plenty of food within. They can buy additional mobile data when the internet is down, and skip a few days at work without concern.
Contrast this with the the most vulnerable families, many of whom I have met while knocking on doors during election campaigns… the single parent who, for the 8 years, has been caring for a child with Type 1 diabetes… the new immigrant on a poverty-level minimum wage working in long-term care… isolated seniors who were already struggling to make ends meet on fixed incomes, in what was already sub-standard public housing, and which now have newly-leaking roofs, that have been missing power for a week. The inequity is stark.
For vulnerable Canadians, even the cost of replacing the spoiled contents of their fridge-freezer can cause cascading stress. Too many are living life on the financial edge, and a natural disaster can tip them right over.
Thankfully, where governments have failed, community members are stepping up. Mutual aid groups, led mostly by young women and queer activists, are cooking hot meals, patching holes in roofs, lending generators, blankets and candles. They are doing good work, and they are doing it with joy. For me, this joyful, community activism is what Canada is all about.
Young activists have not given up on democracy. Rather, they are working hard, demonstrating the strength of community, and showing the citizens how much more we should expect from our public institutions.
I know that Canada’s governments can do better, because I’ve seen social democratic policies in action, in other parts of the world. There is no reason that Canada can not have world-class public housing, eldercare, and healthcare, and a Universal Basic Income. We just have to choose it.
Greens have pushed these ideas for decades, resisting the politics of individualist competition that have defined the last 40 years. And the time is coming for these ideas. And as climate disruptions like Hurricane Fiona become ever more common, they will become ever more important.
Chad and I are ready to champion these ideas, to bring about a new era of political leadership.
Visit www.KeenanWalcott.ca/events for upcoming opportunities to engage.
Anna Keenan
Chad Walcott
Good Sunday Morning everyone!
This week, rather than jump into any particular policy discussion, I thought I would provide a bit of an update on my campaign up to this point and speak about what is on the horizon.
Last week was quite a busy one for Anna and I. On Thursday, September 22nd, we released our plan for the first 6 months of our leadership should we be elected as leaders on November 19th. Our plan was based on 3 main objectives:
- Renew Canadians’ confidence in the Green Party’s ability to drive real change.
- Work with council and staff to renew the Party’s strategic plan
- Announce political/policy priorities for the first 6-12 months
- Open the door to district associations to get involved in the issue-based campaigns and workshops
- Stabilize our internal governance, rebuilding trust at the core of the Party.
- Rest and reset: give council and fund members some time off to reduce stress. During this time meet with members individually to build positive working relationships
- Reconvene and assess: Reconvene council and the fund and propose bringing in an external governance expert to do an evaluation of the board in order to identify areas of mission drift, and realign the mandates of these bodies.
- Retreat and Renew: Organize a retreat for council, the fund, staff, and the leader in order to set a common vision for these governance bodies and build positive working relationships between these leadership structures
- Launch a mass training program called the Green Leaders Network
- This is the policy we are most excited about! It would involve launching a new capacity-building program for Electoral District Association. The Green Leaders Network would prepare EDAs in at least 60 ridings to run high-ambition campaigns in the next election as a way to elect at least 12 Greens to the house of commons.
Following the release of our 6-month plan, I went to Ottawa to participate in the Fridays for Future Climate March, while my running mate Anna, prepared her home for hurricane Fiona. The march was an excellent opportunity to meet with Green Party Members, and other leadership contestants in order to show a united front on the need for bold climate policies in order to face the worsening climate crisis.
While this show of solidarity was important, it is only one part of what needs to be a continued pressure campaign on our government to pull itself out of its policy inertia and start to develop and implement the bold climate policy we need to face the crises ahead of us.
Over the next week, Anna and I will be participating in a number of events and debates organized by EDA’s around the country. We look forward to continuing to share our vision for the Green Party and the external policies we plan to prioritize.
If you want to stay up to date on our upcoming events and policy announcements, please follow our social media and visit our website.
Chad Walcott
Elizabeth May
Good Sunday Morning!
This morning I am processing the Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
We gathered in Centennial Square for Orange Shirt Day – an annual event predating the new day of remembrance. I sat with Pacheedaht elder Bill Jones and Green Deputy Leader Rainbow Eyez.
The stories of wounded children, stolen from their families, now grown adults and elders, were heartbreaking. Among many deeply moving speeches was that of local Tsartlip elder Tom Sampson. He was taken from his family at four years old and beaten whenever he spoke his own language. He traced his lineage back through the generations. To my amazement, it extended back to one of my heroes, Chief Joseph of the Nez Percé. (I learned I had been mispronouncing. Tom says he is of the “Nez Purse.”)
As a teenager I read Dee Brown’s devastating history, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. The chapter on the ruthless persecution of the Nez Perce was hard to read. The conflict of cultures- of Mother Earth versus “Manifest Destiny” — was never clearer. As Elder Tom put it, “They said you must learn to live like the White Man or we will destroy you.”
Once home, I pulled out my high school yearbook. I had two quotes – one from Henry David Thoreau and the other by Chief Joseph’s over his Nez Perce name, Heinmot Tooyalaket (Thunder Rising to Higher Mountain Heights): “The earth and myself are of one mind. The measure of the land and the measure of our bodies are the same.”
I never imagined I would know a relative of Chief Joseph. That honour is deeply humbling.
“Reconciliation” has many definitions. My favourite is that of another dear friend, former President of the Haida Nation, Miles Richardson. “Reconciliation is when you see me as I see myself, and I see you as you see yourself.”
We could use a dose of that in the Green Party.
A loss of mutual trust is spreading through our society like the coronavirus. It is impacting all manner of organizations, including our own. It is linked to the pandemic. We have been isolated, beset and bedevilled. And we are losing trust.
First, justice for Indigenous peoples. Then, we all need reconciliation. We can see each other as we see ourselves – without assumptions, without misinformation.
This week saw two ferocious hurricanes – Fiona and Ian. Our friends and neighbours in Atlantic Canada and Quebec are reeling. This is a climate emergency. Greens have solutions. As Bill McKibben has said, “It is the first rule of holes. If you are in one, stop digging.”
Memo to Trudeau: cancel Bay du Nord, stop Trans mountain pipeline and ban fracking. Peaking before 2025 is straightforward- stop adding and start subtracting.
Sharing my speech on Fiona (Tuesday at 11:45 PM). https://elizabethmaymp.ca/?p=26666&preview=true
Donate. Volunteer. The party’s problems are solvable. Jonathan Pedneault and I will work our hardest to help solve them. Now more than ever people need a solid Green choice.
Elizabeth
Jonathan Pedneault
Good Sunday morning,
Last week, I mentioned that I would be traveling to Québec’s Magdalena Islands to hear from locals and report back on the damages caused by Hurricane Fiona. I did so.
On Monday morning, I boarded a plane from Montréal to Cap-aux-Meules. Upon approaching the low lying islands that sit exposed in the middle of the St. Lawrence Gulf, one could already see how the landscape had been affected by the winds and the storm surge.
I expected to find a community reeling from the storm. I found a resilient, caring one.
It needs to be said that the Maggies are battered by the wind throughout most of the year. Those living there are hard-working and tough, their lives shaped by the elements; the sea, the saline air, the unstoppable winds and the bitter winter blizzards.
The people I met told me of warming seas and stronger storms. They spoke of the need to adapt and protect the shores from coastal erosion. Looking at so many beautiful houses built on the side of cliffs towering above the sea left me wondering how exactly we are to meet this challenge.
“I’ve seen storms. I’ve seen a great many of them,” Jeanne Lebel told me in front of the destroyed remains of her seaside cabin. “The worst I had experienced to date was November 2018, but this one was worse,” she said of Fiona. “The sea, the sea, we don’t have much to protect ourselves from it.”
Waking up on the islands then walking on the beach, I reflected on why I am choosing politics. Why not open a bookstore on this island instead, make some good food, and create a nice home for myself in this beautiful community? After all, the last few weeks have been immensely challenging, though Elizabeth and I did our best to try and address the issues we face during our Ask Us Anything town hall last weekend.
But then I looked at the sea and the sandpipers running on the beach among the debris and garbage carried onshore by Fiona. The juxtaposition of natural wonders and human waste, coupled with the stoic resilience of those I met gave me pause and strength at once. There is so much to do, and not a minute to waste! This is no time to retreat.
Throughout my career, going to places that hurt and listening to people’s stories is what kept me going. Learning from, asking questions and listening to those community members to jointly find solutions is how I see politics. How I see leadership. I think this country needs some of that, and it’s up to all of us – me included – to do what needs to be done to meet the challenge.
As a party we have much to learn from the Maggies and Atlantic Canada. We too can be strong and resilient to face the storms.
If you think so as well, reach out!
Jonathan Pedneault
Sarah Gabrielle Baron
Dear Greens. It has been such a difficult leadership race so far. However, with this article I would like to focus on our potential for positive growth. We all come into this movement in different ways for different reasons. For most, a defining moment is when we first read the Six Key Principles. The one key principle that we keep missing is participatory democracy, that promise of a decentralized power structure, that promise of a member-led policy process. Greens have been making policy every other year since 1988. But where does it go? Can you log in as a member on the website and find our member made policy book? Do you know where to reach other members in order to discuss the issues of the day together?
Please email me at SGB@greenparty.ca if you want these questions answered. I am a keen advocate for a Member-led GPC and I have experienced how these grassroots tools can be easy to achieve!
It is time to show the world that we are a collective. You will see on my website that every single plank is directly referenced to the member made policy book. With a focus on growing our Electoral District Associations in between elections – valuing and empowering that volunteer base – is how we will win elections. And when it comes to intermember conflict we need to move away from investigative / punitive forms of conflict resolution towards more restorative methods of conflict resolution like listening circles, healing circles and if needed community justice circles. I’ve spoken with many longtime members who have been waiting for us to try to make this change. We must have the wisdom to change.
We need a leader willing to give the collective the credit, willing to showcase the amazing work Greens are doing in our communities around small-scale energy, around local based food security. Greens are creating the infrastructure now that future generations need to survive and thrive in the era of climate crisis and climate catastrophe. Showcasing our existing Green leadership in every community is the leader’s job going forward. We already have the Wisdom to Change.
Yours in solidarity for the growth of Green movement,
~ Sarah Gabrielle Baron
https://www.sarahgabriellebaron.ca/index.php
Simon Gnocchini-Messier
Good Sunday Morning!
Last week, I spoke to you about the lethargy of the Trudeau government on reducing Greenhouse Gases. Today, I would like to flag a small victory in cross-party politics: the government’s ban on single-use plastics. This is something that our Green caucus in the House of Commons has been advocating for years, and Mr. Trudeau has finally seen the light.
In December 2022, a ban on the production and import of various types of packaging, plastic bags, pouches, cutlery and straws will take place. A year later, a total ban on the sale of these same products will come into effect. This will eliminate 1.3 million tonnes of plastic waste over the next decade. But let’s be real about banning a small number of easy-to-replace products, which represent less than 5% of total plastic waste. This ban is not about phasing out general plastic use in Canada, which is estimated to double by 2060. Greens must insist on action for the other 95%.
Even this small victory took years. Why? Well, it is frankly very hard to influence Canadian government policy when our parliamentary caucus is only two MPs. I am a realist and believe in a two-election strategy to gain Greens a place at the table of national decision-making. As GPC Leader, I would target, in 2025, ridings in specific areas of the country where the population is eager for political alternatives. Vancouver Island is ripe for political change. I felt this during my recent visit to Nanaimo, Cowichan and Victoria, and in my discussions with Paul Manley. The technology-hub areas of Southwestern Ontario also offer potential for new wins, building on the success of Mike Morrice in Kitchener and, provincially, Mike Schreiner in Waterloo. I plan to speak very soon to the Waterloo-Kitchener EDAs on this very subject. Anna Keenan has built up a robust Green machine on Prince Edward Island. Whatever the outcome of this leadership race, I will support Anna Keenan as a GPC candidate in the next federal elections. The fossil-fuel provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan will be a challenge, not just for the GPC but also for the Liberals and NDP. Gains may be within our grasp in Manitoba, with its history of alternating between right and left. Then there is Quebec, my home province, and that of my fellow leadership candidates, Jonathan Pedneault and Chad Walcott. I have had excellent conversations with both and believe we can be the core team to replicate, in Green this time, the Orange Wave under Jack Layton, if not in 2025 then in 2029.
This race is not just about electing a new leader, it is also about sharing with the members the strategy and policies to make a real difference in this country. Win or lose, none of us will walk away from our responsibility to fight every day for the environment and social justice in Canada.
Thank you, Merci, Meegwech, HÍ SW KE
Simon Gnocchini-Messier
Le texte français…..
Sarah Gabrielle Baron
Chers Verts. La course à la direction a été très difficile jusqu’à présent. Cependant, avec cet article, je voudrais me concentrer sur notre potentiel de croissance positive. Nous sommes tous entrés dans ce mouvement de différentes manières et pour différentes raisons. Pour la plupart, le moment décisif est celui où nous avons lu pour la première fois les six principes clés. Le seul principe clé qui nous échappe toujours est la démocratie participative, cette promesse d’une structure de pouvoir décentralisée, cette promesse d’un processus politique dirigé par les membres. Depuis 1988, les Verts élaborent des politiques tous les deux ans. Mais où cela va-t-il ? Pouvez-vous vous connecter en tant que membre sur le site web et trouver notre livre de politiques élaborées par les membres ? Savez-vous où joindre d’autres membres afin de discuter ensemble des questions d’actualité ?
Veuillez m’envoyer un courriel à SGB@greenparty.ca si vous souhaitez obtenir des réponses à ces questions. Je suis un fervent défenseur d’un GPC dirigé par les membres et je crois que ces outils de base peuvent être facilement réalisés!
Il est temps de montrer au monde que nous sommes un collectif. Vous verrez sur mon site web que chaque planche est directement référencée dans le livre de politique générale élaboré par les membres. C’est en mettant l’accent sur la croissance de nos associations de circonscription entre les élections, en valorisant et en renforçant cette base de bénévoles, que nous gagnerons les élections. En ce qui concerne les conflits entre membres, nous devons nous éloigner des formes de résolution des conflits axées sur l’investigation et la punition pour adopter des méthodes de résolution des conflits plus réparatrices, comme les cercles d’écoute, les cercles de guérison et, au besoin, les cercles de justice communautaire. J’ai parlé avec de nombreux membres de longue date qui attendaient que nous essayions d’opérer ce changement. Nous devons avoir la sagesse de changer.
Nous avons besoin d’un leader prêt à donner du crédit au collectif, prêt à mettre en avant le travail incroyable que les Verts font dans nos communautés autour de l’énergie à petite échelle, autour de la sécurité alimentaire locale. Les Verts créent aujourd’hui l’infrastructure dont les générations futures auront besoin pour survivre et prospérer à l’ère de la crise et de la catastrophe climatique. La mise en valeur de notre leadership vert existant dans chaque communauté est le travail du leader à l’avenir. Nous avons déjà la sagesse de changer.
Bien à vous en solidarité pour la croissance du mouvement vert,
~ Sarah Gabrielle Baron
https://www.sarahgabriellebaron.ca/index.php
Simon Gnocchini-Messier
Bonjour dimanche matin!
La semaine dernière, je vous ai parlé de la léthargie du gouvernement Trudeau en matière de réduction des gaz à effet de serre. Aujourd’hui, j’aimerais souligner une petite victoire dans la politique transpartisane : l’interdiction par le gouvernement des plastiques à usage unique. C’est une mesure que notre caucus vert à la Chambre des communes préconise depuis des années, et M. Trudeau a finalement vu la lumière.
En décembre 2022, il y aura une interdiction de la production et de l’importation de divers types d’emballages, de sacs en plastique, de sachets, de couverts et de pailles. Un an plus tard, une interdiction totale de la vente de ces mêmes produits entrera en vigueur. Cette mesure permettra d’éliminer 1,3 million de tonnes de déchets plastiques au cours de la prochaine décennie. Mais soyons réalistes : il s’agit d’interdire un petit nombre de produits faciles à remplacer, qui représentent moins de 5 % du total des déchets plastiques. Cette interdiction ne vise pas à éliminer progressivement l’utilisation générale du plastique au Canada, dont on estime qu’elle doublera d’ici 2060. Les Verts doivent insister pour que des mesures soient prises pour les 95 % restants.
Même cette petite victoire a pris des années. Pourquoi ? Eh bien, il est franchement très difficile d’influencer la politique du gouvernement canadien lorsque notre caucus parlementaire ne compte que deux députés. Je suis réaliste et je crois en une stratégie prévoyant deux élections pour permettre aux Verts d’obtenir une place à la table des décisions nationales. En tant que leader du PVC, je ciblerais, en 2025, des circonscriptions dans des régions spécifiques du pays où la population est avide d’alternatives politiques. L’île de Vancouver est mûre pour le changement politique. Je l’ai ressenti lors de ma récente visite à Nanaimo, Cowichan et Victoria, et lors de mes discussions avec Paul Manley. Les pôles technologiques du Sud-Ouest de l’Ontario offrent également un potentiel de nouvelles victoires, en s’appuyant sur le succès de Mike Morrice à Kitchener et, au niveau provincial, de Mike Schreiner à Waterloo. J’ai l’intention de m’adresser très bientôt aux ACE de Waterloo-Kitchener sur ce sujet précis. Anna Keenan a mis sur pied une solide machine verte à l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard. Quel que soit le résultat de cette course à la direction, j’appuierai Anna Keenan comme candidate du PVC aux prochaines élections fédérales. Les provinces à combustibles fossiles de l’Alberta et de la Saskatchewan seront un défi, non seulement pour le PVC, mais aussi pour les libéraux et les néo-démocrates. Des gains pourraient être à notre portée au Manitoba, avec son histoire d’alternance entre la droite et la gauche. Il y a enfin le Québec, ma province natale, et celle de mes confrères candidats à la direction, Jonathan Pedneault et Chad Walcott. J’ai eu d’excellentes conversations avec eux et je crois que nous pouvons constituer l’équipe de base pour reproduire, en vert cette fois, la vague orange de Jack Layton, si ce n’est pas en 2025, du moins en 2029.
Cette course ne consiste pas seulement à élire un nouveau chef, mais aussi à partager avec les membres la stratégie et les politiques qui permettront de faire une réelle différence dans ce pays. Que nous gagnions ou perdions, aucun d’entre nous n’abandonnera sa responsabilité de lutter chaque jour pour l’environnement et la justice sociale au Canada.
Merci, Meegwech et HÍ SW KE
Simon Gnocchini-Messier