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Sections cover Events, General Interest, and On Being Green.
Links to back issues, subscribe/unsubscribe, and join the SGI Greens are at the end.
SGI Greens (Green Party of Canada) news and events:
The 2025 federal election
We expect that the 2025 election will be announced in March, with Election Day likely in May.
If you’ve been watching the news, you know that a great deal is at stake. It’s not just the usual horse-race between Liberals and Conservatives, with minor surprises from the Bloc, NDP and Greens. This time, we need a government that combines experience with integrity and smarts to avert two potentially existential disasters:
- Trump’s economic war on Canada and plan to annex Canada
- Climate change getting ignored while governments are distracted by The Economy
Our Elizabeth May knows these issues like few others. She understands the urgency.
No party “whip” can stop her saying what needs to be said.
Our goal is to re-elect Elizabeth.
More than that – it is to re-elect her resoundingly!
When “the writ drops” (the election is officially announced) things will get very busy in a hurry.
We need to get going NOW! (Some volunteers have been active for some time already.)
You can support Elizabeth’s campaign now, in these ways:
- Request a Lawn Sign We want to blanket the riding in Green on the first day of the election. We will install the sign and remove it after the election.
- Volunteer It takes many volunteers to call supporters, knock on doors, enter data, host Kitchen Table Talks, help with signs, and many other actions.
- Donate to the SGI Greens Help us fund a vigorous campaign to re-elect Elizabeth!
A message from the Green Party’s Co-Leader Jonathan Pednault:
A crisis is unfolding before our eyes… Canada faces an unprecedented threat from our closest neighbour… The United States is no longer an ally; it has become a threat.
We can no longer take our security, economy, or democracy for granted. That’s why the Green Party of Canada is taking action.
Elizabeth and I have released a bold plan to protect Canada—our jobs, our borders, and our democratic freedoms—from Trump’s America.
Here’s what we’re fighting for:
- Strengthening our national security and preventing foreign election interference
- Protecting Canadian jobs and industries from U.S. economic aggression
- Ending reliance on U.S.-controlled defence and IT systems
- Creating an “economic NATO” with like-minded democracies to counter authoritarian influence
We cannot afford to sit back and watch. Our sovereignty, economy, and future as a free nation depends on what we do next.
This is a fight for Canada. But we need your help.
Every dollar you donate fuels this fight and helps us build the strongest election campaign in our history. If we don’t stand up now, who will?
Donate today—before it’s too late. Donate to the GPC now
March 2, 4:00 pm, Film and Discussion Panel
SGI Greens and the BC Environmental Film Festival are presenting a film, “Flight of the Swans,” at the Star Cinema.
Tickets are $13 at the door, or buy tickets online ahead of the event.
After the one-hour film, Sonia Furstenau, Ann Nightingale and Nathalie Chambers will discuss how the film relates to swans and other migratory birds in SGI and B.C. Come and join in the discussion!
Looking for a VOLUNTEER ORGANIZER for the SGI Greens EVENTS TEAM
Are you a people person?
Do you enjoy arranging events and organizing a team of eager volunteers?
We are looking for a volunteer who will:
- chair meetings to plan SGI Greens events such as the annual Summer Picnic for members, and SGI Greens’ participation in events such as the Victoria Day Parade
- Delegate related tasks to volunteers
- Book venues for events
- Manage insurance documentation for venues that require insurance
- Ensure that all supplies such as refreshments are ordered for each event
- Ensure volunteers are in place for each event to set up, serve refreshments, etc.
If you are interested in taking on this important job, or have questions about it, please reply to saanichgulfislands@greenparty.ca or call Tom Niemann at 250-857-5422.
BC Greens news and events: (because we’re friends)
Rob Botterell‘s “Your MLA in Action” newsletter is produced every two weeks. If you would like to receive it, please subscribe here.
Former MLA Adam Olsen has a new blog on Substack – you can go to www.substack.com, search for Adam Olsen to subscribe and/or read his blog posts.
The Saanich North and the Islands Riding Association will hold their Annual General Meeting and elect a new executive board on Thursday, March 20, 7:00 pm on Zoom. You can register here. Are you interested in joining the executive? Please email san@bcgreens.ca for more information.
The Saanich South Riding Association is holding its AGM and executive election on Saturday, March 29, from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm. RSVP to register, or join on Zoom. Please email diannemcguire@gmail.com for more information on joining the executive.
On Being Green:
What we’re reading
Hannah Ritchie was despairing in her teen and university years, having read news about climate change, poverty and environmental degradation. Now in her 30s, and working at Our World in Data, she has written a book titled “Not the End of the World” which elaborates on her new, radically hopeful, rational, and constructive outlook.
She points out that, for the first time ever, humanity is in a position to achieve sustainability – defined as enabling a good, healthy life for everyone without degrading the environment for future generations. She lists some of the huge improvements achieved; acknowledges that there are serious problems; deftly discredits depopulation and degrowth as false solutions; and examines seven major, tightly interconnected problems (air pollution, climate change, deforestation, food, biodiversity loss, ocean plastics, and overfishing) and potential solutions.
The book is rooted in data, presented simply and clearly, some of it surprising. Her writing is highly readable and often insightful. She does not expect the reader to agree with everything. She has practical advice and makes a strong case for what she calls “urgent optimism.”
– Tom Niemann
A spectrum of possible 25-year futures
Where are Canada and the world headed over the next 25 years (by 2050)?
What do you actually believe is in our (near) future? Pick one of the following:
- Rapid, complete collapse of “western civilization” by 2050 (it’s “baked in”)
- Steadily increasing social dysfunction and environmental degradation (but not collapse)
- It gets worse and then better (a turnaround is reached by 2050)
- Continuing improvement toward social and environmental sustainability
- A Green future is achieved by 2050 (good surprises dominate from now on)
Sharing with those close to you what you believe can lead to interesting discussions!
You may be convinced that we are headed for future #1. There certainly is plenty of news that suggests imminent collapse. Can you fully admit that to yourself – or the children you know? (The film “Melancholia” provides a “profound, visceral vision of depression and destruction.”)
Perhaps you think future #1 is overly dramatic, but still despair that “the world is going to hell in a hand-basket.” In future #2, our political systems, increasing population and exploitation of Mother Earth show little sign of changing course, and sustainability is just a dream.
Future #3 may seem a realistic blend of pessimism and optimism to you – we can and will overcome the many difficult issues we face. Yes, there will be some rough patches ahead, but our human spirit and ingenuity will win in the not-so-distant future.
You may find the mainstream media is obsessed with problems and “bad” actors. You believe we are already in future #4, with ongoing, steady improvements, as documented by Fix the News, Our World in Data, and other sources that highlight positive actions and trends.
Perhaps you firmly believe that we are already living in the increasingly bright future #5. There are problems, certainly, but none that will defeat us. We have incredible knowledge, technology, indomitable human spirit, and a clear vision. A Green future is within reach!
Picking one of these futures may be difficult – they have implications: what you see in yourself in the mirror; how you relate to those close to you; how you relate to others; what you will do today and tomorrow; and, what you won’t do today and tomorrow.
Maybe it’s better to leave a decision on this till tomorrow? Or just set the question aside?
Wait… There’s another way to think about this spectrum of futures. Rather than picking one or another future that you “believe” in, and rationalizing why you’ve chosen the “right” one, it may be more useful to consider your actions in the face of these potential futures.
If you believe in future #5 or just like to believe it to be true, what would you actually DO? You would push and pull in a Green direction, would you not? And if you’re optimistic, but not “wearing rose-tinted glasses” because you think future #4 is more “realistic” you would also pull in a Green direction, would you not? And if you’re feeling a tad overwhelmed by current news, yet determined to play a part in that turnaround in future #3, you would definitely be pushing in a Green direction, would you not?
The pessimistic among us (and the optimists on a “bad hair day”) will wonder if all this pushing and pulling in a Green direction is really worth the bother – but, if pressed, may admit that it does at least improve the odds of living a full and rewarding life, or at least a less miserable one, for ourselves, others our age, and especially for younger people, including any offspring.
In short, it hardly matters which of the futures you “believe” in. No matter what you “believe” is coming, there are good reasons to push and pull in a Green direction!
– Tom Niemann