aislinn clancy

She called it an “insane career choice” when she first described it to us in May. She was talking about her decision to put her name in for the Green Party of Ontario’s candidate nomination process. Kitchener Centre had a byelection coming up because the sitting MPP quit.

Image source: CBC News

As a councillor she was frustrated that the premier had stripped the city of many of its powers and started to expand municipal boundaries and trounce the Greenbelt. We were out with Aislinn protesting these moves by the province. Frustrated by her quasi-demotion, she decided to take the fight to Queen’s Park, the source of this antisocial scourge.

Aislinn’s calls of injustice hit a nerve; volunteers came to her side by the hundreds, finding that Aislinn’s Green values spoke to them and that they wanted to put their energy into causing a change in politics.

After Aislinn and her hundred of volunteers knocked on 30,000 doors twice, and phoned every phone thrice, and shot out emails to supporters almost daily for weeks and months, and organized sign-waves, protests, parades, pizza parties, waffle breakfasts, hammered lawn signs, set up booths and the list goes one–she won!

It was a big win for Aislinn and the Greens last night. She got over 50% of the votes, which is ridiculously high given there were 18 other candidates on the ballot! She doubled her closest rival’s votes. You often hear opposition supporters scoff that greens can’t win, but last night shows that we can win by a landslide!

As MPP Mike Shreiner put it last night, the Green wave is rolling out from Kitchener-Centre! Where will it go next? By-Elections can happen in the interim, but the federal election is two years away and the provincial election is less than three years away.

That means we need strong green candidates in every riding at both levels and we need them sooner than later. We are the party that recognizes the climate and social emergencies – and faces them with policies built on evidence and science—we believe in data-driven decision-making and fiscal discipline. If that’s what you are about then join us or nominate yourself as a candidate.

Candidates are critical, but they also need human infrastructure to support them. As volunteers, we witnessed how the scaffolding is built up around a candidate. All kinds of supports are needed, often on a shoe-string budget. Come volunteer with us!

If you want to see a stellar Greens running in your riding in the coming election battles, then we need your treasure too! Join and make a donation to your local Green Party so they can attract excellent candidates and build a hope chest for the coming election races.

July 18, 2023 was a super Tuesday night Green rally at TheMuseum in downtown Kitchener as over 150 enthusiastic supporters made their way into the stage area for a round of inspiring speeches after snacks and drinks approaching 7pm.

The crowd was starting to settle into rows of white chairs as Campaign Manager Maureen Balsillie took the stage to MC the event. Calm as a cucumber, a veteran of 10 campaigns, she confidently evaluated the team’s recent results. Over the last 6 weeks, her team had helped candidate Aislinn Clancy to canvas three shifts a day, aiming to meet by walking door to door and calling by phone the people in over 100,000 households in the riding that contain potential voters in the upcoming Kitchener-Centre MPP by-election.

Jonathan Pedneault, Aislinn Clancy, Mike Schreiner, and Mike Morrice hold Green Party signs to elect Aislinn Clancy for Kitchener-Centre.

We are going to “paint the town Green”, was the message of the night, as it was announced that Clancy’s campaign is poised to have broken the record for the largest number of lawn sign signups ahead of an election announcement–over 600 requests and counting.

The speakers included Johnathan Pedneault, co-leader of the Green Party of Canada, Mike Morrice, the only elected Green MP in Ontario, Mike Shreiner, the only elected Green MPP in Ontario, and of course, Clancy, who gave an emotional speech.

She asked us to put our hands over our hearts and to close our eyes, to breathe deeply, encouraging mindfulness from a crowd that had just cheered her onto the stage. Morrice had earliest noted that what made Clancy really stand out is her authenticity.

The leaders explained that the way Greens get things done is by influencing the other parties to take action on key issues that are important to the community. For example, it was the Ontario Greens that tabled an increase to disabilities payments that ultimately moved the needle.

Jonathan Pedneault speaks to a crowds of Aislinn Clancy's supporters.

Pedneault reminded the crowd of our purpose and the historic moment that we are living through. Putting a second Green into the Ontario Parliament will be the kind of momentum that the party needs to become a contender for governance.

While acknowledging the key problems, like new gas plants, Greenbelt development, and the lack of support for the unhoused and for low income people who can no longer afford to live where they are, the leaders reminded us to also count the wins and note that Green are punching above their weight in parliaments. The only way to get there is more feet on the ground and more lips on the phone.

As volunteers, we were reminded of how important the Green message is in these times, and we commit to increasing our efforts in the knowledge we can make a difference.

Take action to support Greens in Kitchener: support Aislinn’s campaign: or sign up to volunteer on Aislinn’s campaign. See you out there!