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Sections cover Events, General Interest, On Being Green and a Feature Interview
Links to back issues, subscribe/unsubscribe, and join the SGI Greens are at the end.
Elizabeth May and Lisa Gunderson at the Saanich Fair
SGI Greens (Green Party of Canada) news and events:
October 19 – Last day for nominations to the SGI EDA Executive Committee
October 26, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – SGI EDA’s Annual General Meeting
- Our Executive Committee meets monthly and posts meeting minutes on our website.
BC Greens news and events: (because we’re friends)
- The next provincial election is scheduled for October 19th and the BC Greens are busy! They need all available hands on deck (to be repaid next year during the federal campaign)! Want to learn more? The fabulous Candidates are here and the list is growing weekly. Events throughout the province are here. If you are uncertain of your electoral area (there have been changes) you can find that at Elections BC.
- The four ridings (and their candidates) that overlap parts of the SGI area are:
Saanich North and the Islands (Rob Botterell)
Saanich South (Ned Taylor) – Join him at a coffee chat!
Oak Bay-Gordon Head (Dr. Lisa Gunderson)
Victoria-Swan Lake (Christina Winter)
- Other nearby ridings in the Capital Regional District are:
Victoria-Beacon Hill (Sonia Furstenau – BC Greens Leader)
Esquimalt-Colwood (Camille Currie)
Langford-Highlands (Erin Cassels)
Juan de Fuca-Malahat (David Evans)
All of these candidates would appreciate help with a variety of volunteer activities.
Community Information:
October – various dates
The folks at Creatively United have an excellent online calendar of local events.
October 1 – Seniors for Climate cross-country events
Seniors for Climate is organizing seniors that are deeply alarmed by the climate crisis. One in four Canadians, seniors have outsized political, economic and social power. And they vote!
Canada-wide actions are planned for October 1st, Canada’s National Seniors Day at more than 70 locations, including Salt Spring Island and Victoria — here’s the event map.
If you are a senior who cares about the climate emergency or know someone who is, it’s time to get like-minded elders together to stand up for what you believe in.
Saanich-Gulf Islands
Tuesday, October 1st from 2 – 4 pm
Contact: Shelagh Levey, shelagh76@icloud.co
Please join us at the October 1st rally at the BC Legislature from 2:00 – 4:00 pm.
Salt Spring Island
Tuesday, October 1st from 2:00 – 3:30 pm
Contact: Marlyn Horsdal, mhorsdal@shaw.ca
There will be two short presentations. One on the (obscene) dollar amounts of fossil fuel subsidies and what could more usefully be done with the money, and the other on the direct effects of climate change on our health and our surroundings right now.
The main event is a singalong with Valdy, who is writing a song on “Stop the Subsidies.” We’ll make a video of the singing and email it to all MPs.
Rally for Climate Action at the BC Legislature in Victoria
Tuesday, October 1st from 2:00 – 4:00 pm
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2557256961133255
Our overarching theme is the urgency and dire consequences of the climate emergency, and the fact that provincial and federal governments continue to subsidize and promote development of the fossil fuel industries — with OUR tax money! Attendees will be encouraged to sign a giant petition demanding that our governments stop these subsidies to the oil and gas industries.
General interest:
Good news snippets
- The cost of electricity from renewables is now much lower than from fossil fuels!
Utility PV (56% lower), Onshore wind (67% lower), Offshore wind (25% lower), Geothermal (29% lower), Hydro (43% lower). See report by International Renewable Energy Agency.
Climate (and other) solutions
- China’s emissions are set to fall in 2024 after record growth in clean energy.
- In China, the world’s largest car market, EVs are now 51% of all new cars sold.
- Ethiopia is the first country to ban the import of petrol and diesel vehicles.
- Norway is the first country to have more EVs on its roads than petrol cars.
Is this greenwashing?
- There’s greenwashing to make a product look good… and then there’s misleading, to make another product look bad (and your own product good, by contrast). It amounts to the same thing: deception about what’s green, for corporate gains. Stay alert to this:
Women are the new target of Canada’s fossil fuel greenwashing machine
“Ask Google if you should buy an electric car, and one of the top hits will be a blog post from the organization ‘Canada Powered by Women’ that lays out the vehicles’ drawbacks and explicitly targets women,” reports Marc Fawcett-Atkinson.
“A look at the players behind the organization reveals a group that is entwined with Canada’s fossil fuel and petrochemical industries. All of its six founding board members are oil and gas executives.”
Gee, thanks for the help, Big Oil and Google!
On Being Green:
Our readers
“Thank you Ms May, for speaking in parliament and calling a spade a spade; calling out who the enemy of peace is. You are the bravest women in the parliament, among the rats in parliament who are too afraid of terrorist regime of israel, that they turned off your mic. thank you again for speaking up today. May God bless you”
-U
What we’re reading
Trevor Hancock, one of Canada’s first Greens, wrote this excellent article in the Times Colonist.
Feature:
An Interview With Ned Taylor,
BC Greens Candidate in Saanich South
Interviewed by Shelagh Butterworth Levey
EARLY LIFE
Ned Taylor was born in Saanich to Eileen and Matt Taylor in 1999. He was an active kid who attended local schools. One of his fond memories was biking to Campus View Elementary with his father. He was fortunate to have a happy home life, and his only negative memory was classmates teasing him because he was skinny as a teenager.
WORK EXPERIENCE
While attending Reynolds Secondary School, Ned worked at Starbucks and later at Glenshiel Housing Society, a non-profit dedicated to providing low to middle income seniors with an affordable place to call home. Duties included housekeeping, dining room server, and front desk clerk.
Elizabeth May visited Ned’s grade 11 class, and this ignited an interest in politics. He accepted an invitation to volunteer in Elizabeth May’s MP office in Ottawa. This gave him an insight into government and by graduation, hearing that Vic Derman, a Saanich Councillor, had passed away, he decided to run for his seat in the 2017 by-election. By this time, Ned was knowledgeable about climate breakdown and was eager to follow Vic Derman, the ‘voice for the environment’.
Ned’s run for council was unsuccessful in 2017, but in the general municipal election of 2018, he came third in a slate of 18 candidates. He was also elected to the CRD. At the age of 19, Ned was the youngest councillor ever. One of his proudest achievements as a Saanich councillor was to introduce a motion to declare a climate emergency and expand and accelerate the region’s response to climate change.
Like many young people, Ned is faced with the high cost of living in Saanich where he would like to settle and raise a family. Therefore, after his four-year term as a Saanich councillor he took a break to focus on gaining a pilot’s licence. He now has a Private Pilot’s Licence and is continuing towards a commercial licence. In the meantime, he is working as the Coordinator in Elizabeth May’s Constituency Office.
HOBBIES
Ned describes himself as an energetic person who enjoys tennis, camping, biking, exploring, walks, music, and going to a movie with his girl friend. To avoid stress, Ned likes to play chess, which he says makes him focus and thus forget problems.
INFLUENCES IN LIFE
Early and notable influences were Ned’s parents and Australian grandparents. His grandmother, at 93, is still involved in political activism. Ned credits being inspired by Elizabeth May, Sonia Furstenau, and Adam Olsen.
NED IS GREEN BECAUSE….
“The Green Party stands out from the rest in both policy and approach. I appreciate that it is accessible, respectful, honest, and transparent. It is focussed on issues and is willing to co-operate with other parties. It is the conscience of governments, federally and provincially.”
IN CONCLUSION
Ned has always been concerned about climate breakdown, which was his reason for serving on Saanich Council. He is disappointed that all levels of government are failing to take the action needed to work for a safe, healthy future for all. He has not given up hope, which is why he is running in the upcoming provincial election as the BC Greens candidate for Saanich South. We certainly need an ethical young person like Ned in the Provincial Legislature.
If you would like to see Ned elected, please click on one or more links below:
For more about Ned’s campaign in Saanich South: https:// www.bcgreens.ca/ned_taylor
To donate to his campaign: https://www.bcgreens.ca/donate_to_ned_taylor:
To volunteer: https://www.bcgreens.ca/volunteer
To register for a lawn sign: https://www.bcgreens.ca/request_a_sign
Published by the Saanich-Gulf Islands Electoral District Association of the Green Party of Canada.
Please send feedback and contributions to this newsletter to sgiedanews@gmail.com.
Saanich-Gulf Island Greens publish two newsletters:
- The monthly SGI Greens NewsletterThe weekly
- Good Sunday Morning — Elizabeth May’s perspective
Current and back issues of both are at https://sgi.edagreens.ca/news-events/
To subscribe to one or both newsletters, go to sgigreenparty.ca/signup_2020.
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We acknowledge and respect the W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples, on whose territory we live.
The SGI EDA aims to work with them towards a meaningful and mutually beneficial reconciliation.