Big Day Tomorrow

Hi everyone. I have alot of nervous anticipation about tomorrow. I have never been more excited about and cared as much about the outcome of a campaign. What I have had in my mind throughout is the vision of what Canada could be and how many people are fighting for it. Here it is articulated by Elizabeth May...

Vision Green - Submitted by Elizabeth May on 10 October 2008 - 10:00am.
Politics aside, I want to let Canadians know right now what our country could be under a Green government.
After attending the Global Greens meeting in Brazil this spring, I have a real appreciation of what international cooperation can look like. There are Green Parties in over 90 countries around the world. We have been in coalition governments in Germany, Denmark and Sweden. We have had representatives in Ireland, New Zealand and Australia. I saw the Green Party representatives of Jordan, Israel and Egypt sit together on their break, and it inspired me to believe that a truly global movement could turn this world around.
Green Members of Parliament would work with decent parliamentarians of all stripes. We would create a culture of respect and an ethic of responsibility and accountability within the House of Commons. With just a few MPs, I believe the Green Party can bring about significant change, prompting other parties to move toward implementing the Kelowna accord, bringing in sound environmental economics, creating universal childcare and protecting our public health care.
If the Green Party’s platform went forward starting today, I believe Canadians would quickly see local community-based projects accelerating. We would bring in a national vision for transit, for energy and tourism. We would implement the national water strategy, and all of our policies would work together to achieve the Canada we want. These national strategies would be guidelines with which we could direct investment to small business operators, infrastructure development and other economic stimulus.
Within our first year of government, I believe we could move toward quality child care, including work place care that helps families stay closer together. We could give low-income Canadians better access to mass transit, particularly in rural areas, and implement a health program to pay for the pharmaceutical drugs we need.
Through tax shifting, we could begin to instantly Green our economy, investing in sustainable energy business, protecting our natural resources at home and ensuring that they exist to serve us well into the future. We would immediately shift taxes to alleviate the burden on the unemployed and low-income families. We would give married couples income splitting, a fairer tax policy. We would use our resources and our revenue to help Canadians prosper in a changing climate.
In foreign development, we would start talking to our NATO allies, our UN associates and the powers that be in Afghanistan about the strategic route to a peaceful resolution, focusing on development assistance, defense and diplomacy. We would not leave our men and women to a dangerous and failed mission.
We would commit to investing 0.7% of GDP to international development assistance, as requested by the campaign to Make Poverty History. We would begin the process of giving Canada back its role in peace-keeping and the mission to end the arms race.
We would once again be a voice for social justice and world peace in international negotiations, signing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, renewing our commitment to the Kyoto protocol, seeking nuclear disarmament, signing and implementing the Rotterdam Convention to protect developing countries from hazardous imports.
This would only be the beginning, and there are many more places where we need to affect change in this country right away, from electoral reform to preventative health care to reducing student debt.
I’m talking about vision because that’s what it takes to give people optimism. We need Canadians to take notice of this election campaign and vote for change, vote for the future. We named our policy document Vision Green because our policies all work together as common sense solutions that will help us to be stronger. The vision of the Green Party is for a better world, healthier, greener and more secure. With vision, people can achieve a great deal.
I want to ask all Green supporters and candidates to think about values in this campaign. The values that Canadians have always espoused: honesty, courage and integrity. We look to one another for vision, and we share in a common goal. This election is about nothing less than choosing to create a better world.

Thanksgiving

I just returned for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with my family. Meals are usually pretty "loud" when we get together. Now they are even more active because one of us is always playing with our little son, who didn't love the turkey but enjoyed lots of pumpkin pie.

I would like to thank Leor, Jason, Ella, and Fred for volunteering to canvas with me in South Calgary today. You all had other plans today, but made time for the campaign anyway. Thank you very much! It was particularly significant to me that Ella, a new Green Party volunteer, is not yet old enough to vote, but is eager to take part in a campaign. I am so impressed with her conscientiousness. Ella has many interests, including art, and is a curious, intelligent young person who takes initiative. Her parents must be very proud of her.

Many Green candidates are exchanging well wishes through our email distribution list. It's quite sad that it's winding down so quickly. I know that each of us, the campaign team and volunteers are tired from non-stop effort and looking forward to spending time with their families again.

A Green in Rural Alberta

I would like to share this letter that was sent to the local paper by William Munsey who is the Green Party candidate in Vegreville - Wainwright. Mr. Munsey, who is a father, farmer, and railroader, describes his campaign experience eloquently and I share his sentiments about family and why we feel so strongly about what we are fighting for... please take the time to read this.

Dear Green Supporters (and skeptics) and Wainwright-Vegreville Press,
Well, I am done campaigning. I have visions of Leon Benoit scurrying around the riding trying to pull in supporters... but I have farm work today before I settle into my Thanksgiving dinner seat with my family around me. Tonight I have to work on the railway. Monday, I have more farm work and Tuesday I can vote and watch the numbers role in.When I started this I have to admit that I had no real goals other than to get the Green message out and prove that Greens are not whackos... that most of us are just really plain folks concerned about the way we neglect the environment.Then a funny thing happened along the way. I started to hear what I was saying from somewhere outside myself. I started to believe in a deeper and more profound way what I was hearing... what I was saying. I watched people as I spoke and saw them nod and agree. Sometimes when I talked about a lack of time with family and friends and my sorrow at losing something special in rural Alberta, I saw people's eyes mist up.I could not believe they were moved by MY words.. by the things I worry about.That is what changed. I opened up my heart to talk and people let me in to their own hearts. That sort of sharing of hopes and dreams and fears is a very powerful thing and I have been overwhelmed by it. There is a great desire in this country to do things better, but many people have shut off. What I saw over the past month is that they would open up if they had something to trust in and hope for.I don't pretend that 'something' is me, or even the Green Party. I only know there is a huge wealth of goodness left in this country to make it a better and more compassionate place for us to live in and raise our families. What we have to do is find a way to tap that spirit and the ideas that will make that possible.I did my best this last month. I don't know that I could have done much more. It has been hard on my wife and it has broken my heart to call my kids while driving back late at night from somewhere and hear my youngest daughter crying on the phone because I was not there for her.I would not have done any of this if I did not think that in some way I was doing it for my family.Thank you all for your support, encouragement and help over this last month.Tuesday, we will let the chips fall.Vote! Our democracy is a gift to one another... something to be truly thankful for.I will no longer sign off with my Green Party title. I am back to being a father, farmer and railroader.I will write again with my thoughts and impressions a couple of days after the election. William Munsey, New Sarepta, Alberta

"PM should try copying these words"

This is a clever piece by Mike Buckthought in the Toronto Star about Mr. Harper's recent plagiarism "incident"...

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's campaign has received worldwide media attention following the admission he copied a speech by former Australian prime minister John Howard. If only he would copy the speeches and policies of leaders around the world who are committed to taking action on climate change.

Canadians would be pleasantly surprised if he copied a speech by David Cameron, leader of Britain's opposition Conservative party. Harper would say, "Since becoming leader of the Conservative party I have sought to push the environment up to the top of the political agenda."

More... http://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/511683

Hello Rosscarrock Elementary School!

On Thursday I had the pleasure of visiting Rosscarrock Elementary School. The grade six students who I met were going to be voting for a federal election candidate later in the day. Rosscarrock is a remarkable school for the fact that among the 140 students, 25 languages are spoken!
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I would like to say "hello!" to all of the students I met, Mr. Pye and Mrs. Soleil (I hope I'm spelling that correctly!) I really enjoyed our discussion and all of the thoughtful questions you asked. You have been learning so much with you wonderful teachers and you have become very knowledgable about many important federal issues. I am very moved that you are concerned about the struggles that people here in Calgary are facing. Thanks for having me and for the wonderful pen. My little boy really liked it, just as I thought! I can't wait to see the results of your election. The MPs in Ottawa should pay close attention to this.

Best wishes,
Natalie

p.s. I visited the Alberta College of Art and Design yesterday afternoon and I wanted to mention it because that is also a post-secondary school that you may be interested in one day - especially someone who is interested in design.

Very Exciting Poll Results

A member of the Calgary Centre campaign team has brought some exciting polling data to light. On the inside of a bathroom stall in Mac Hall on the U of C campus, an election tally was discovered last evening. We are reporting that the NDP have 3 supporters, the Liberals 2, and the Greens and Conservatives are tied at 11 supporters a piece. We will update you on the tally as the week progresses. Although it's not clear in which riding the tally participants live, I am packing my bags just in case. Looks like Alberta is going to surprise the country here. Lee Richardson may want to consider setting up a sign in the booth to help his chances.

Elboya Elementary and Junior High School - Proportional Representation

A wonderful experience today at Elboya Elementary and Junior Highschool. The grade 6 students are learning the platforms of all the parties and will hold their own election tomorrow - brilliant! These students are extremely knowledgable! They named every type of renewable energy and alternative fuel, and inquired about hybrid vehicles and methane production. Cudos to the teachers for taking this initiative with their classes. We need to make proportional representation a reality long before these young people vote officially for the first time. I hope to learn the Elboya election results soon after the polls close tomorrow.

Thanks to my brother Alisdair for playing in the park with my little guy while I visited Elboya.