Good Sunday Morning! TODAY August 31 is the deadline to be sure your membership in the Green Party of Canada is up to date in order to support me in the leadership review.
The easiest way to be sure you are a member in good standing is to join today (even if you are not sure if your membership expired). It is a $10 cost and then we can be sure you are entitled to vote. After today is too late.
https://www.greenparty.ca/en/become-a-member
MANY thanks for making certain.
I know my recent announcement that I will step down as leader before the next federal election has caused some confusion. I encountered a lot of confusion at yesterday’s Saanich Fall Fair. Am I retired? Not running for leader? Why does a leadership review matter if I just retired?
I do not want Good Sunday Morning to turn into a predictable partisan harangue and prefer to assume that regular weekly readers are not too confused. Please, for now, just double check on your membership and drop me a line if my plans are unclear. I am not retiring, and I have not stepped down as Green Party leader, which is why I need your vote in the leadership review. But I will step away as soon as the council organizes and holds a leadership race electing a new leader or co-leaders. The timing for those key moments is not yet set, but I am very happy about the prospects for the federal Greens through leadership renewal. This time we will benefit from a planned and organized process based on lessons learned from previous leadership races. Look for me at the Green booth today and Labour Day at the Saanich Fall Fair – its 157th year!
Yesterday was re-entry into the news of our world and our country after a blessed six days off! I know there are doubters who think I am far too plugged into phones and emails to ever shut off. I am happy to report that I had no trouble in shutting out the world and seeing only my family. I thought of the world, prayed for peace and hoped for better, but predictably emerging from a news fast, I found things had changed little.
The weekly Haaretz update (an Israeli newspaper I find a reliable source with a critical perspective on its government) was as dispiriting as ever:
“11 Palestinians, including children, were killed in an IDF airstrike on a bakery in Gaza City. Sixty-six Palestinians were killed in IDF fire in Gaza over the past 24 hours, including 15 aid seekers, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. The Red Cross chief said there was no safe way to effect a ‘mass evacuation of Gaza City.’ Yemen’s Houthi-controlled presidency announced that several senior Houthi officials, including Prime Minister al-Rahawi, were killed in an Israeli airstrike. The U.K. has barred Israeli government officials from attending the country’s biggest arms fair….”
Meanwhile the Canadian news offered little light. Prime Minister Mark Carney has established the “Major Projects Office (MPO)” to be based in Calgary. The office was mentioned as a possibility in omnibus bill C-5 but was not mandated by it. Carney also announced that the chair of the board of Trans Mountain Corporation, Dawn Farrell, is to be the MPO CEO.
Also this week, Canada failed to protest the sanctions against Canadian judge on the International Criminal Court I mentioned last week. More international law experts have called out the government for failure to protest the move, former Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy among them.
University of the Fraser Valley professor, Mark Kerston has pointed to the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act as a source of useful tools to allow lawsuits against those who cooperate with unjust foreign sanctions. But Canada has not suggested pursuing that remedy to assist Canadian Judge Prost.
While other countries have protested Trump’s sanctions of their fellow citizens for working within the International Criminal Court, officially Canada has remained silent. Kerston pointed out in a related piece in the Hill Times that UN Ambassador Bob Rae’s tweet calling Trump’s move “disgraceful” has been deleted. This same week Canada backed down on a number of retaliatory sanctions against the United States.
As quoted in the CBC article, Unifor head, Lana Payne, said Carney’s move was a mistake.
“Walking back counter-tariffs isn’t an olive branch. It only enables more U.S. aggression,” she said.
“From the start, Unifor has demanded Canada’s leverage be used to defend workers in this trade war…” “We should not give it away unless the U.S. also drops all punitive tariffs.”
As the climate negotiations loom for COP30 in Brazil taking place November 10-21, I had written earlier in August to ask Environment and Climate Change minister Julie Dabrusin about arrangements for Canadian Opposition MPs on the delegation. My answer was waiting as I got back to emails yesterday. I am invited to join the Canadian government delegation, but at my own expense. I find this a bit rich after Carney brought eleven Liberal MPs with him to the Pope’s inaugural mass at the Vatican right after the election. I have been through a number of policy shifts from different Prime Ministers. Back in Mulroney’s time, Opposition MPs were always invited to international events pertaining to climate or global environmental concerns, like saving the ozone layer (with airfare and hotel covered). Ditto under Jean Chretien and Paul Martin. Under Stephen Harper MPs from opposition parties were excluded. I managed to get to climate negotiations, finding funds on my own and engaging in the diplomatic equivalent of couch surfing. In 2011, at COP17 in Durban as a newly elected MP, I attended as part of the delegation of Papua New Guinea. In Warsaw COP19, I ended up part of the Afghanistan delegation. I will press Minister Dabrusin to ensure bare bones coverage of expenses. This is the Canadian tradition for good reason. It allows MPs to work constructively with their own government, having been booked at the same hotels. COP work usually starts with 8am briefings and often goes to 24-hour cycles of talks. Despite sniping from the Conservatives, it is work – not a set of cocktail parties. I have heard Mark Carney plans to attend. I will get there, come hell or high water. The Brazilian government is keen to use this ten year mark since the Paris Agreement to check on work and commitments. It should be a meaningful stock-taking of progress, and lack thereof. So far I keep waiting for Carney to reveal himself as having a climate conscience. I was sure of it before the election. As he is praised by Doug Ford, Danielle Smith and Kevin O’Leary, I have gnawing doubts.
Best to keep an open mind. So much is riding on Canada having good leadership. I will keep that open approach as we head back to Parliament September 15. There is so much real work to be done!
In the meantime, I hope to see you at one of the many upcoming community meetings here in Saanich Gulf Islands or in one of our virtual Green Party town-halls!
Stay in touch, and thank you for all your positive notes telling me to have a good vacation. I did!!
love
Elizabeth
Community meetings — in person:
September 3 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm Community Meeting – Gordon Head
Gordon Head Recreation Centre 4100 Lambrick Way, Victoria
September 4 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm Community Meeting – Sidney
Mary Winspear Centre 2243 Beacon Avenue, Sidney
September 6 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm Community Meeting – Salt Spring Island
Fulford Community Hall 2591 Fulford-Ganges Road, Salt Spring Island
September 7 @ 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm Community Meeting – Cordova Bay
Cordova Bay 55+ Association 1-5238 Cordova Bay Road, Cordova Bay
September 8 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm Community Meeting – Galiano Island
Galiano Island Community Hall 141 Sturdies Bay Road, Galiano Island
September 9 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm Community Meeting – Brentwood Bay
Central Saanich Senior Citizens Association, Upper Hall 1229 Clarke Road, Brentwood Bay, BC
September 10 from 7:00-8:30pm Community Meeting – Mayne Island
Mayne Island Community Centre 493 Felix Jack Rd, Mayne Island
September 11 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm Community Meeting – Saturna Island
Saturna Community Hall 105 E Point Road, Saturna Island
September 12 @ 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm Community Meeting – Pender IslandPender Island Community Hall 4418 Bedwell Harbour Road, Pender Island
September 13, Salt Spring Island Pride Parade
Two bilingual national Town Halls in the first week of September. This is your chance to ask questions directly to Party Leader Elizabeth May as part ofthe Leadership Review.
- Townhall #1
September 2 at 7:00 p.m. ET
(4:00 p.m. PT / 8:00 p.m. AT)
Register to Attend - Townhall #2
September 5 at 10:00 p.m. ET
(7:00 p.m. PT / 11:00 p.m. AT)
Register to Attend
Please note: these Town Halls are for Green Party members only.
Hope to connect soon!