PeterboroughGreens

Greens eye breakthrough on Vancouver Island

2006-01-10T20:25:00.000-05:00

-The Greens received nearly 17 per cent of the votes cast in Saanich-Gulf Islands in 2004. Harris is campaigning...
CBC British Columbia - Greens eye breakthrough on Vancouver Island

CTV.ca most even-handed coverage of ALL 5 parties

2006-01-08T20:16:00.000-05:00

God bless CTV! At least one of the major networks believe in democracy. They have a wonderful 'Issues' chart on-line.....simple easy read compares each party's stand on each issue. See how each party handles the important issues....like environment, health care, taxes, aboriginals, crime etc.

Why the tories part 2 or How to increase voter turnout..

2006-01-08T15:03:00.000-05:00

...in particular, low income voters.
Herbie sez:"I was speaking to someone the other day who was lamenting the trend to lower voter turnout. She stated that many of her friends were not even aware of the issues or of the fundamental assumptions inherent in each of the political parties. I ......."-Herbinator

Why would the tories do that?

2006-01-07T18:51:00.000-05:00

Ok....I figgered it out....call me a cynic. In order to finance the GST cut and all the other promises....like putting an army in every major city, he did the cutting on the demographic that don't vote in order to please the high income earners who do. How do ya spell Machiavellian ?
Grrrr...I don't want those people running my country!!!

This is Yank stuff but see how it applies:
"focused on chopping programs that serve low-income families with children, or low-income people who are elderly or have disabilities.
"It's outrageous," says David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World.
Mr. Beckmann and others point out that many poor people don't vote. They vote proportionately less than do middle-income or rich people. The poor, sometimes with two jobs or maybe doing manual work, often have difficulty getting themselves to polling stations. Many are undereducated and..."
Don't balance the budget on the backs of the poor csmonitor.com

Tories will scrap tax cut for low income earners

2006-01-07T13:10:00.000-05:00

.......Last November, before calling the election, the Liberals cut personal income taxes – a one per cent reduction to the lowest tax bracket, from 16 to 15 per cent, and an increase of $500 to the basic personal exemption.
The cuts will mean a tax rebate for 2005, as less tax is being knocked off Canadians' paycheques for 2006. .........More

Inside The Campaign: Green Party loyalty thriving

2006-01-06T19:20:00.000-05:00

Inside The Campaign: Green Party loyalty thriving

CBC News: Greens launch formal complaint over debate exclusion

2006-01-06T08:17:00.000-05:00

The Green party has launched a formal complaint with the CRTC over the exclusion of their leader Jim Harris from the election debates, claiming the snub is unconstitutional

CBC News: Greens launch formal complaint over debate exclusion

Green collar jobs at CGE?

2006-01-06T00:09:00.000-05:00

I've heard a few Green speakers including Jim Harris saying that wind turbines are not being made in Canada. It niggled me as I'd heard somewhere that CGE Peteborough was working on a wind turbine prototype...

Well here is encouraging news from Sustainable Development Technology Canada:
"This project will develop and demonstrate an advanced turbine drive train that converts mechanical energy into electrical power for next-generation multi-megawatt wind turbines. The technology will provide enhanced performance, increased reliability and higher power density in the turbine’s rotating equipment. The project will design and test a prototype drive train at GE Canada’s Peterborough facility, followed by wind turbine validation tests at a consortium partner’s site in Canada. The technology will advance wind as a mainstream energy supply option with a competitive cost of energy."

CGE sez: "In Canada, GE Wind is supplying wind energy to wind farm projects across the country. The Erie Shores Wind Farm Project in Ontario will increase the countrys wind energy capacity by 99 megawatts. While 8 projects in Quebec will call for 660 GE wind turbines supplying up to 990 megawatts of wind-generated electricity to the province."

I first heard David Suzuki say that when trying to persuade others to help work on green solutions, we should try to stay away from "doom and gloom" predictions as the negative message turned people off-not hearing what they didn't want to hear. I get that tone in the GP message too, and I like that.....green collar jobs etc. Let's keep positive and lets update our positive facts.

Is the Green Party really a right-wing party? Or is the NDP?

2006-01-05T22:57:00.000-05:00

"In this campaign Marilyn Churley has been saying that the Green Party is right wing – or that I am right wing, so let's play a little game. I'll make a few statements and ask yourself if you could ever imagine Mr. Harper supporting any of these positions during this election:"
electJim.ca - Jim Harris, Green Party Leader

Sound Byte of the Day

2006-01-05T19:45:00.000-05:00

``I don't consider myself a politician. I consider myself a Canadian with concerns.'' Jim Harris

Green Leader compares his party to hockey great

2006-01-05T19:24:00.000-05:00

Green Leader compares his party to hockey great: "At most stops of his national tour, Green Leader Jim Harris likes to tell his small audiences his fledgling, environmentally focused party is like hockey great Wayne Gretzky."

24 Hours Vancouver - News: Greens talk disillusion

2006-01-05T19:19:00.000-05:00

Showing little faith in Canada's current electoral system, federal Green Party Leader Jim Harris said proportional representation is the key to getting Canada's "disenfranchised youth" to the polls.

24 Hours Vancouver - News: Greens talk disillusion

Conservatives 35, Liberals 33 - Tories Increase Support in Quebec (CPAC-SES Tracking Completed December 30 and January 3 and 4)

2006-01-05T16:21:00.000-05:00

“CPAC-SES tracking shows the Conservatives and Liberals are gripped in a tie. Conservative support stands at 35% followed by the Liberals at 33%, the NDP at 15%, the BQ at 12% and the Green Party at 5%. Liberal support in Quebec has slid to 24% with the Conservatives increasing their support in the province to 15% (the BQ are relatively unchanged).” - Nik Nanos, President, SES Research

Canada Decided Voters (Tracking ended January 4, 2006)
CP 35% (+6)
LIB 33% (-4)
NDP 15% (NC)
BQ 12% (-2)
GP 5 (NC)
*18% of Canadians were undecided (+2)

In Quebec
BQ 51% (+1)
LIB 24% (-6)
CP 15% (+6)
NDP 7% (+1)
GP 3% (-3)
*23% of Quebecers were undecided (+12)

Outside Quebec
CP 41% (+4)
LIB 36% (-3)NDP 18% (-1)
GP 5% (+1)
*16% of Canadians outside Quebec were undecided (-1)

Best PM
Martin 27% (-2)
Harper 25% (+4)
Unsure 19% (+2)
Layton 13% (-1)
None 10% (-2)
Duceppe 6% (NC)
Harris 2% (NC)

Leadership Index [Daily composite of the Leaders’ Trust, Competence and Vision]*
Martin 72 (+4)
Harper 66 (+1)
Layton 37 (-10)
Duceppe 21 (-5)
Harris 10 (+4)

Quotable Quotes

2006-01-04T13:51:00.000-05:00

"Why are we leaving our children to be the canary in the coal mine to warn us of the kind of future we are creating for our grandchildren?" -Jim Harris

If Greens got 5% of the vote should it get 5% of the seats?

2006-01-04T12:15:00.000-05:00

The Globe and Mail - Poll Results

Green Party leader unveils platform

2006-01-02T21:08:00.000-05:00

Check out good coverage on CTV. Text and video press conference.
Compare this to what used to be my favourite Toronto paper...and this from what used to be my home page! AAArgh.....Oh well at least they covered it. Thank you CTV . Now do you think you could talk to your network buddies and get us included in the second TV debate?

P.S. Just noticed this pic CTV used is not from today, but a file photo. Anyone want to hazard a guess at what he was saying when he had one thumb up and one down?....and where he said it?

Emissions-free Sign Delivery

2006-01-02T19:48:00.000-05:00

Green party supporters wishing lawn signs delivered and installed can contact Brent Wood at bwood@greenparty.ca 705 743-3095.Barry Davidson is able to deliver all signs within city limits by cargo trike with his "trusty canine-assist', Macushla.

Green Party Review

2006-01-02T17:51:00.000-05:00

Check out Bill Hulet's great commentary on current issues of substance on the "Green Party Review" link on the right. He has some great things to say and says them very well!

Brent Wood

Get the Greens On the Air

2006-01-02T17:21:00.000-05:00

What do Farley Mowat, Preston Manning, David Suzuki, Lloyd Axworthy, Keith Spicer and Mel Hurtig have in common?

They all agree that the Canadian Leadership debates should include the Green Party. The Green Party of Canada was excluded from the first two televised leaders' debates, but there are still two more - on January 9 and 10.

We are trying to get everyone to whom this matters to go to:www.info-greenparty.ca/petition/ and sign the petition for inclusion in the next two debates. So far more than 35,000 Canadians have done just that!

If you agree would you please also forward this message to any of your email contacts who you feel mightshare this concern? Below is a list of brief points that argue for ourinclusion - for a full background paper on the issue go to http://web.greenparty.ca/download/backgrounder.pdf

Why the Green Party should be Included in theTelevised Leaders Debates

* The Green Party of Canada is running candidates in all 308 ridings

* The party won almost 600,000 votes in the last election and polls currently indicate 800,000 voters have already decided to vote Green on January 23, 2006

* This support is just the tip of the iceberg becausein the last election just, two weeks before polling day, 18% of voters said they would vote for the Green Party if they were to switch their minds. Polling research from the summer of 2005 showed that 34% of Canadian voters (more than one in every three) will now consider voting Green;

* The Green Party of Canada is running 4 times as many candidates as the Bloc, which is included in the debate;

* The Bloc won 54 seats after being included in the1993 TV debates without ever having elected an MP under its banner;

* The Reform Party went from 0 seats in 1988 to 52 seats in 1993 when Preston Manning was included in the debates;

* There were 5 leaders in the debates in 1993, 1997 and 2000 - and with the merger of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Parties there i sa spare seat at the table;

* Some 8.8 million Canadian electors did not vote inthe 2004 election - why? Because they didn't see their values and their ethics reflected in any of the old line political parties. Only 5 million voted Liberal and only 4 million voted Conservative. The Green Party is presenting a new vision for Canada - something that Canadian voters respond to, once they hear about it!

* Gordon Wilson, the leader of the BC liberal Party in1991, was included in the debates without having anyseats and, based on his performance, the Liberals won 17 seats and became the official opposition;

* A broadcast consortium of 5 unelected, unaccountable executives shouldn't dictate to Canadians what our democracy will look like or sound like.

Thank you, in advance, for joining the long list of prominent Canadians who agree that the Green Party should be included on the debates.

David Suzuki, Author, Geneticist, CBC Broadcaster
Preston Manning, Founder & Former Leader Reform Party
Bill Loewen, Founding President, National Party
Paul Hellyer, Founder, Canadian Action Party
Senator Shirley Maheu, Deputy Speaker, Senate of Canada
Senator Nancy Ruth
Senator Mira Spivak
Mario Dumont, Leader ADQ, Quebec
Mel Hurtig - Author & Activist, former leader National Party
Judy Rebick, Gindin Chair in Social Justice & Democracy, Ryerson University
Keith C Norton, Chief Commissioner, Ontario Human Rights Commission
John Meisel, former Chairman, CRTC
Keith Spicer, former Chairman, CRTC
Hugh Segal - President Institute for Research on Public Policy
Mark Tewksbury - Olympic Gold Medalist
Very Reverend Lois Wilson, former Senator & Moderator of the United Church of Canada
Peter Desbarats, former Dean of Journalism, University of Western Ontario, author and former CBC journalist
John Williamson, Federal Director, Canadian Taxpayers Federation
Diane Francis, Editor-at-Large, Financial Post
John Sewell, Former Mayor of Toronto
Jed Goldberg, President, Earth Day Canada
Ronald Watts, Principal Emeritus and Professor Emeritus, Queen's University
Joe Jordan, former Liberal MP
Paul Watson Sea Sheppard, founder Greenpeace
Lori Stahlbrand, Former CBC Radio Broadcaster
Larry Gordon, Executive Director, Fair Vote Canada
Michael de Pencier, Chairman of World Wildlife Fund Canada
Michael Adams, President, Environics Group
David Scrymgeour, Former National Director Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
Rosemary Speirs, former journalist and campaigner for equality for women in politics
Elizabeth May, Author & Environmentalist
Irshad Manji, Author & host of "Big Ideas," TVOntario
Peter Trueman, former anchor for Global Television
Rudyard Griffiths, Director, Dominion Institute
Lloyd Axworthy, President University of Winnipeg
Farley Mowat, novelist and naturalist

a message from Mike Nickerson
Sustainability Project / 7th Generation Initiative
2799 McDonalds Corners Rd.RR #3
Lanark, Ontario K0G 1K0
http://www.SustainWellBeing.net

An Evergreen New Year's Message from Brent

2006-01-02T17:07:00.000-05:00

The evergreen tree has for centuries been a symbol of survival and hope in the cold of winter.

"Evergreen" values are what the Green Party of Canada stands for in our drive toward achieving the long term survival and sustainability of human culture.

The human species has been incredibly successful. Our population is larger than ever. People live longer than ever and have a higher average level of education. Our arts and science have advanced beyond anything our predecessors could have imagined. Canadian society today is more equitable, progessive and multicultural than it has ever been.

Yet this prosperity has brought new challenges that our old ways of thinking and doing business can no longer meet.

Last month in Montreal the international community turned a corner in recognizing climate change as the greatest threat ever faced by humanity. 189 countries agreed that the time to take action is NOW.

Canada pledged years ago to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 6% below 1990 levels. Yet the federal government has done next to nothing to move toward this target. Our emissions are now 24% ABOVE 1990 levels. The oil and gas industry receives $2 billion annually in federal subsidies largely hidden from the public eye, while we have utterly neglected alternative energy sources that are practical and ready to be implemented: wind, solar, geothermal, biofuels.

And if climate change weren’t enough to threaten our fragile northern ecosystems, we continue to encourage unsustainable forestry, agricultural and industrial practices aimed at short-term economic growth.

This double whammy of climate change and distressed ecosystems is putting Canada’s future prosperity in extreme jeopardy.

The fastest and most efficient way to transform our economic behaviour is to implement real-cost accounting through differential taxation. Sustainably produced goods and services should receive tax breaks, while unsustainable ones should be taxed higher so that their real costs to public health and wealth are accounted for.

We have already learned to do this with alcohol and tobacco. We must expand this practice to encompass refined sugar, metals, agricultural chemicals, factory farms, fossil fuels, and clear-cut forestry. In tandem with tax incentives for extended-producer-responsibility programs and renewable energy development, we can transform the way we do business.

Consumers and industry will continue to have choice, but we will no longer publically subsidize unsustainable behaviour. Our health will improve, our resource consumption will drop, and we will save some of Canada for our children and our children’s children.

WE CAN make Canada a better place to live today and leave something for the future. Your support of the Green Party in this election will send a message that needs to be heard in Ottawa. The time for change is NOW.

Brent Wood

Peterborough All-candidate Meetings

2005-12-31T13:20:00.000-05:00

Kick-off with Peterborough This Week's "Electionfest' Jan 4th, 6:30 pm at Lion's Community Centre, 347 Burnham St.

Mon. Jan 9th, 8 pm, Douro Community Centre

Tues. Jan 10th, 7:30 pm, Lions' Centre

Thurs, Jan12th, 7 pm, Peterborough Public Library

Mon. Jan 16, 8 pm, Peterborough Public Library

More info in PTW Dec 30, page3

Who are the Greens: Socialists or new Age Tories?

2005-12-30T08:16:00.000-05:00

From the Calgary Herald
By: Eli Schuster

NDP leader Jack Layton must have a sense of how Kim Campbell felt in 1993. Back then, Tory support collapsed as a sea of green Reform Party lawn signs suddenly sprung up in Ontario and Western Canada. This time, however, an entirely new set of green lawn signs could mean the difference between the balance of power and irrelevance for Mr. Layton. If it's lucky enough to actually elect any candidates, the Green Party of Canada could even eventually put the NDP out of business by redefining the left away from socialism, and towards a communitarian vision with roots in the red Tory tradition.

The slow-but-steady rise of the federal and provincial Green parties over the past decade has been one of the country's least-noticed developments in party politics. Last year, Green leader Jim Harris quintupled his party's usual support to almost 600,000 votes, or 4.3% of the total. Even better, the Greens qualified for Jean Chretien's parting gift to Canadian taxpayers: the $1.75 per vote annual subsidy to established political parties. With nearly $1 million in his pocket, Mr. Harris can wage a professional campaign, even if he is excluded from the Leaders Debates.

If history is any indicator, the party has plenty of room to grow. In Europe, the Greens have established a constituency of young, educated, urban, secular members of the middle class, as well as feminists, gays and public sector employees – the same folks who tend to vote Liberal and NDP here in Canada.

Why does the party enjoy solid single-digit support? Dissatisfaction with the Liberals and the NDP certainly played a role, but it would be a mistake to dismiss the Greens as merely a trendier version of the NDP even if the parties share many similar policies. Officially, the Green website declares: "we're neither a party of the left nor a party of the right," while Harris himself is a former Progressive Conservative.

Certain planks of the Green platform sound like a clear rejection of class warfare. The party would place heavier taxes on polluting industries while reducing taxes on income. Socialists who want the rich to pay their "fair share" of taxes likely wouldn't find that very satisfying.

Similarly, the provincial Green Party of Ontario proposes "expand[ing] the choice available to parents and students by funding educational alternatives, including home schooling, religious and alternative learning schools, under the administration of the local board of education." Try selling that one to the teacher unions.

The parties also differ in tone. While the NDP frequently strikes small-l liberal voters as angry and critical (a natural trap for opposition parties), the Greens offer a positive-sounding, if New Agey program of "non-violence," "community-based economics," "ecological wisdom," "social justice," "grassroots democracy," and "feminism." It's a critique of capitalist society, but a communitarian critique rather than traditional Canadian socialism.

Most of the Green voters I have personally met struck me as generally left-of-centre with one glaring exception: they all distrusted "big-ness" in any form: big business, big labour, or big government. Swiss political scientist Jurg Steiner once described the "desired situation" of European Greens as the chance to work on a small commune where some folks could bake bread and others could repair bicycles. "The Greens acknowledge that this is not the most efficient way to organize the economy," wrote Steiner, "but they challenge the usual definition of economic efficiency measured in the increase of the Gross National Product."

It's a vision almost out of the Middle Ages, but that's the historical period that traditional toryism venerated, too. While modern conservatism is basically free-market classical liberalism, the older version – the conservatism of Benjamin Disraeli, Sir John A. MacDonald and others – was somewhat different. Old-style Tories viewed society not as a collection of individuals but as an organic whole; they believed in a sense of noblesse oblige, distrusted the emerging market economy, and even championed an early environmentalism as the countryside was ripped apart to build pollution-belching factories.

Don't misunderstand: the Greens aren't traditional conservatives by a long shot, but they do share a small-scale collectivist mindset that isn't found in the other mainstream parties, and that enjoys a history among the United Empire Loyalists who founded the country.

If the opinion polls mean anything, countless Red Tories across the country have decided to take a pass on the new Conservative Party and have either withdrawn from politics or parked their votes with the Liberals and NDP. Assuming the Green Party maintains a steady supply of supply of federal cash and doesn't implode from infighting, it could become the new red Tory party.

Eli Schuster is a Toronto-based freelance writer and editor of www.grumpyyoungcrank.blogspot.com He has a Masters Degree in Political Science from York University.

Another Reason To Include Greens

2005-12-28T10:14:00.001-05:00

Lost in an ambiguous headline: Media Watch: Issues-based coverage throws spinmeisters and bloggers for a loop, says Christopher Waddell we find the perfect argument for including Greens in January debates:
Towards the end of his column he winds up with.....are you ready?....

"A largely unnoticed byproduct of the new format for the leaders' debate is that there is no longer any rationale for excluding the Green Party.
The only one that made any sense, although no one would say it, was television's need to limit the number of people on the stage yelling at each other non-stop all at once. The success of the new format with individual answers to questions means it doesn't matter whether there are four or five people answering in succession.
The other parties don't want the Greens involved, as that means less airtime for each of their leaders. More important it could cost them money.
Every vote the Green Party takes away from another party is $1.75 less a year for that party. That's the amount of taxpayer support that now goes to every party that gets at least 2 per cent of the total vote in an election. In 2004, the Green Party won 4.3 per cent of the votes cast across Canada.
The networks have excluded the Greens because the party didn't have a seat in the last Parliament. That is specious.
The media helps hold accountable those who spend taxpayers' dollars. That accountability should extend to political parties, not just politicians and bureaucrats. The best way to do that is to include all the parties that get taxpayer subsidies and let the public decide whether their money is being well spent or not. As long as the networks exclude the Greens, they are giving that party a free ride.
That should stop. The Green Party should be in January's debates alongside all the other subsidized parties."