Seasons Greetings!
It’s almost the end of 2022, the time when we celebrate friends, family and community, and look forward to what the New Year might bring.
From the SGI Greens team to you, we wish you all the peace and joy of the season, and we will reconnect soon.
Click here for a printer-ready PDF version of this newsletter.
In this issue we feature a note from Elizabeth, a report about the Annual General Meeting, some giving options for SGI, and believe it or not a gardening article from Gary and Nancy. We also have some regional and local information as well as some snippets about other organizations that are making a big difference.
Notes from Elizabeth
Update from COP15 (provided December 16th)
I write from the tense and fraught negotiations for a Global Biodiversity Framework – the goal of this 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD) in Montreal. Greens have been here in force with Rainbow Eyes and Grandma Losah displaying the enormous slab of Fairy Creek old growth in the heart of Palais des Congres. To see the eight by eight foot sliced trunk of the felled giant speaks volumes about the failures of Canada’s protection of old growth. I watched as people wept on seeing it.
Jonathan Pedneault and I have been working with Greens from the Montreal area, as well as elected Greens from around the world. We hosted the meeting of elected Greens – a COP tradition called “Green Family Breakfast.” Attending COP15 are elected Green MPs (often the chief negotiators for their country) from Germany, Finland, Austria, Belgium, Scotland, and the European Parliament. We use the Green Family Breakfast to share information and negotiating strategies.
Meanwhile, our Parliament has adjourned until January 30. I am excited as we gear up for (nearly) normal non-partisan MP community meetings in the riding next month.
Taking on my new role as leader has been pretty effortless — thanks to having so much help!
Jonathan Pedneault is now Deputy Leader, working more than full time. We will be working by stages toward the constitutional reforms we have been proposing, including co-leadership. In early December, we rallied round Mary Kidnew, our candidate in the Mississauga Lakeshore by-election, bringing Anna Keenan up from Prince Edward Island, Chad Walcott from Montreal and Sarah Gabrielle Baron from Manitoulin Island to canvas with JP and me and a lot of GTA volunteers. (The 6th leadership candidate, Simon, had wanted to join us but had family conflicts.) We do feel united as we work together to rebuild the party.
Please forgive me for the number of times you will be asked to donate to the Green Party of Canada this month. We do hope December will be a very successful fundraising month to make up for weaker months throughout the year. Please give what you can and ignore the emails after you have donated. I promise. Every penny will be well used!! (donation options below in “Your Gift to SGI Greens and the GPC)
Elizabeth
Saanich-Gulf Islands EDA report
2022 was quite a year for the Saanich-Gulf Islands Greens.
January was our opportunity to deal with the pandemic-delayed AGM of 2021 via Zoom.
In May, the local Greens rallied together for an appearance at the Victoria Day Parade in Victoria, and it was the first chance many had to meet each other in person in quite a while.
Later, a Pride Parade and Festival in June brought together Elizabeth with Sonia Fursteanau and quite a few local Greens for what was a very fun event in Victoria on a sunny day.
July 2nd saw Salt Spring Island Greens host Elizabeth. They had a Potluck with some wonderful well-known local musicians providing entertainment at the event.
Summer brings us the season of farm markets and Elizabeth made it to Mayne Island for their big summer market on July 30th.
August marked the beginning of the campaign to select a new Leader (or Co-Leader) for the GPC. Six impressive candidates created a challenge for GPC members to select the best.
The candidates accepted our offer to publish their articles in our Good Sunday Morning newsletter, giving them an opportunity to speak to the local members about their ideas and intentions. The outcome of this is that Elizabeth is the new Leader of the Party.
Labour Day is a perennial favourite as it brings us the Saanich Fall Fair. This is an occasion for SGI members to volunteer at our booth and work in concert with Elizabeth to allow the fair-goers to meet and greet each other and our MP. A lot of fun makes for good spirits at this annual happening.
The business side of our EDA was taken care of with our AGM held at the end of November. This was a new experience for our team as we had a hybrid meeting of in-person and Zoom attendees. Some technical glitches informed us that there is more to learn about the complexities of this kind of meeting.
This AGM provided us with an opportunity to introduce our new leader, Elizabeth May as well as her Deputy Leader, Johnathan Pednault, who spoke to us remotely. Also joining by Zoom was the Green Party of Canada’s new Executive Director, Kevin Dunbar; the new Federal Council President, Ian Soutar and the new BC Representative, Deraek Menard.
SGI was very blessed to be able to have these people come to our meeting and speak about their goals and ideas for the betterment of our party.
An organization like ours depends heavily on the goodwill and genuine effort of our volunteers.
We were sad to see our Financial Agent of eleven years, Sharon Forrester, leave our board. Her talent with our financial affairs has been absolutely rock solid through the years with many election campaigns to deal with. Working to fill those big shoes is our new FA, Jennifer Kennedy and we welcome her and her financial experience.
Two of our very reliable board members, Linda Brown and Nancy Searing submitted their resignations. We will miss their spirit and expertise that they brought to our board and our events.
Joining our board is Mona Donovan, who is our Salt Spring Island representative, and also our webmaster, Tom Niemann, who brings his strong capabilities to our committee.
I want to thank and recognize the work done on SGI’s behalf by Robyn Ross. Not all of our volunteers wish to be on our board, as there is quite a bit of work behind the scenes to make a strong EDA like Saanich-Gulf Islands function well. Robyn’s many years of excellent service are very much appreciated.
I believe our present board is ready for the challenges of our year ahead and I wish to unequivocally thank those who continue to serve.
Our present board consists of: Dan Kells, CEO; Jennifer Kennedy, FA; Tom Niemann, Secretary & Webmaster; Helena Murray-Hill, Youth Representative; Mona Donovan & Mary Leslie, Members-at-Large.
We are here to serve the needs of the SGI Electoral District and welcome communications from you, our most important members. Thank you for your support as we work with the GPC to renew this very important party in Canada.
Dan
Your Gift to Saanich-Gulf Islands Greens/ the Green Party of Canada
It’s that time of year again when non-profit organizations reach out for donation pledges. We realize that we are one of many worthwhile groups whose existence depends on donations, and we are grateful for every dollar sent our way. As donors, you are the heroes in our fight to make progress on the climate emergency and social justice issues.
If you have not donated yet this year or wish to top up your gift, please read further here for your options – with our sincere gratitude! We couldn’t do our work without you. Your donation will be offset by tax deductions, explained here.
We have had some questions about different ways to donate, as well as what’s the difference between donating to the Saanich-Gulf Islands Electoral District Association (the SGI EDA) vs the national party (GPC). Here is an explanation of donation options, in the event that you are planning to make a donation this year, currently make donations, or would like to learn more. We want to make this as easy and clear as possible, and we thank you in advance for considering this…. For further details continue reading.
Gardening with Gary and Nancy
The Winter Garden
So it’s December and everyone is so busy with Christmas – who is thinking about the fruit and vegetable garden at this time of year. We all have earned a break after all, haven’t we? Well, you could take a break, but you could also be busy at this time of year. Busy harvesting food from the garden planted just for this time of year like lettuce, spinach, kale, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Swiss chard, beets, leeks, green onions, parsnips. Certainly enough to provide Christmas dinner from your very own garden. And for all those bare patches in the vegetable garden, providing a thick layer of compost will help feed the soil organisms and give you a head-start on spring. It would also be a good idea to cover them with a cloche or a layer of clear plastic (we know – yuck, plastic).
Although we usually don’t start pruning our fruit trees until January, because we will be gone then we started in mid December. We don’t expect much of a problem with doing so other than having to go over the orchard again in the spring to remove any winter-killed branches. If needed, now is a good time to spray the first application of dormant oil to the fruit trees to control coddling moths which overwinter in cocoons on the bark or other protected areas of the trees. Apple maggots are also a big problem around here, but since they overwinter in the ground, they are much harder to control. If we remember, we will talk more about them in June.
And for those of you who are growing citrus outside, we are sure you have your Christmas tree lights on and your remay around them to protect them from the cold nights. We found that they never grew very well outside of Bob Duncan’s tropical micro-climate in Deep Cove. Once we brought them into our greenhouse we have been rewarded with large crops of big lemons, limes, grapefruits and tangelos. What a winter treat they are and for those of you trying to grow them outdoors – worth the extra effort they require.
Just a reminder to those of you who are interested in joining a “food growers” club to talk about vegetable and fruit growing, share ideas, seeds, stories and camaraderie, we will have our third monthly meeting in February (we have to skip January). If you would like to join us, just send an email to gfs@airportwildlife.ca and we will add your name to the list and send you a notice of meetings each month. So far, it has been fun and informative.
Nancy & Gary Searing
Honeysuckle Cottage
Of Green Interest
Would you like to learn more about Proportional Representation? This fascinating webinar by Dennis Pilon and Fair Vote Canada is well worth watching. Dennis is an Associate Professor at York University and a well regarded expert on voting system reform. He published further details in Canada Watch, November 2022.
Check out the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance’s new 5 min video on “Nature Protection in Canada – Time for Ambition and Ecosystem-Based Targets”
Following the UN Biodiversity Conference – please consider sending a message to your provincial government and to the federal government to scale up their protected areas ambition
Professional and Continuing Studies at Royal Roads University has partnered with the Climate Risk Institute to advance programming in climate change risk assessment, adaptation planning, policy evaluation and resiliency. Check the Climate Risk Institute offerings and other courses related to the critical response to climate change on their website.
Regional information
Make Memories, not Waste This Holiday Season
The holiday season can get wasteful if you’re not vigilant. Check out the ideas for holiday recycling and green New Year’s resolutions here.
Saanich/Gordon Head
Stay up-to-date as District of Saanich reviews and updates its Urban Forest Strategy. Sign up to receive emails with important updates, milestones, engagement opportunities and more!
Congratulations to the District of Saanich which earned an A from the non-profit Climate Disclosure Project – a feat only attained by 12% of submissions. Saanich proved that it had transparent goals with actions to match, a community-wide emissions inventory, a published climate action plan that identifies hazards, and a climate adaptation plan. The City of Nanaimo also earned an A. Bravo!
The provocative question that started this project was, “How will you become a steward of the Salish Sea?” Students spread Salish Sea stewardship messages Something we could all ask ourselves…
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