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.
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.
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.
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.
During the election, Mr Ford categorically promised not to touch the Greenbelt.
Not only is the Greenbelt home to 5,500 farms, 78 species at risk and 102 million tonnes of carbon storage, the reason it was protected in the first place was to protect a great deal of Ontario’s water.
Because it was introduced quietly going into Christmas, and the Ford Government has since made no secret of its intention to push Bill 66 through quickly, I don’t know if anyone has yet managed a thorough examination of all the ramifications of Bill 66.
It may only be 35 pages long, but it’s an omnibus bill, which means everything you need to know isn’t contained in this draft legislation. You’d have to read through every one of the 22 laws it will change:
Some of the changes it makes may be good things, but bad things thoroughly outweigh any good that might be there. That’s the thing about Omnibus Bills: many different things are bundled together in a package too big to be adequately considered in a democracy.
There is no reason Bill 66 couldn’t be stopped, and the good parts could be reintroduced as ordinary laws that can be properly understood and debated in the Legislature.
Our unrepresentative voting system has gifted Mr Ford’s government with 100% power to pass any law it wants, even though it was elected by only 40% of the votes cast (a mere twentysomething percent of eligible votes).
So what’s the rush?
There is nothing stopping them from allowing citizens and the MPPs in the legislature to know what it is they are passing, and allow adequate parliamentary debate of all aspects. That’s how our system is supposed to work. In a majority government, even though the party with all the power can pass any law it wants, the reason we have an opposition parties is to ensure that our legislators make sure the laws they pass stand up to scrutiny. If there are bad unintended consequences, or even if the legislation is too broad or unclear, the opposition parties can be trusted to point these things out so they can be dealt with before they become law.
The only reason for pushing something like this through fast is to keep us from knowing what they’re doing until it’s too late. Keeping the people in the dark is not how a Government for the people would operate.
In the Region of Waterloo discussion of Bill 66, Waterloo Mayor Jaworsky said, “No one asked for this.” Mr Ford keeps talking about making Ontario “Open For Business.” But what does that mean? They say this law is supposed to “cut red tape” that prevents development.
But the fact is that development isn’t being prevented. There is plenty of room in Ontario, plenty of land available and open for development without going anywhere near the protected lands of the Green Belt. There is no need to endanger our water or anything else. That’s why municipalities across Ontario are passing resolutions saying they don’t want or need this.
Why is this happening?
When the laws protecting Ontario’s water and the Greenbelt were put in place, land prices in the Greenbelt stayed low. When farmland can’t be turned into a factory or subdivision, it stays viable as farmland. But because of the low prices, some developers bought land in the Greenbelt, speculating that in time they would elect a government willing to undo the Greenbelt protections. And so they did.
In spite of all-party approved changes to Ontario’s election financing law preventing political parties from accepting corporate donations, the changes didn’t go far enough. To skirt the law, developers like Mattamy Homes were allowed to contribute ridiculous sums of money to Partisan third party advertiser Ontario Proud, specializing in attack ads against Mr Ford’s opponents. (And Mr Ford is undoing that election financing law because the people he is for have lots of money to spend to ensure the governments they want get elected. But that’s another story.)
The only reason the Ford Government is trying so hard to carve up the green spaces of our province with factories and subdivisions is because their rich supporters want to make a profit.
Ontario has been doing a pretty good job of long term planning, protecting sensitive environments, our water and our food supplies. Once farmland is paved, its gone.
Once farmland is developed, it’s not farm land anymore.
The best we can hope for from Bill 66 is that decades of careful land management will be messed up. Much of the law protecting our water dates back to the previous PC Government, and were put in place to protect Ontario from another Walkerton. Or another Elmira.
If that’s not bad enough, Bill 66 does away with any requirement for public notice or consultation or meetings, and no matter what problems are caused, we won’t even be able to appeal to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal. So called “Open For Business” by-laws passed behind closed doors will trump laws, policies and municipal official plans developed through extensive and open public consultation. Communities would have no recourse to influence or challenge them.
And even if your Council doesn’t do any of these things, the Council next door might, and endanger the environment we all share.
January 20th is the deadline for comments to Bill 66 on the Environmental Registry of Ontario (EBR).
Be sure that you and others that you know speak up and let your concerns be known. It would be fantastic if your group or organization can make an official response or submission. There is plenty of information in the Bill 66 Recent Articles linked below. There are a myriad of issues and concerns, but you can say as little or as much as you like in your comment. Don’t be shy about making comments personally – even if it is just a short sentence or two. I would suggest making it clear right at the top that you don’t want Bill 66. I am afraid to say that at this point they are not likely to listen to what we say, but they will certainly tally up how many comments support or oppose the bill.
Please take two minutes to send a message to the Ontario Government to stop Bill 66:
You can also visit the Green Party of Ontario’s Defend The Greenbelt website. If you feel you need assistance in using the comment process, the GPO advises you to Click here for step-by-step instructions to participate in the government consultation.
And of course we can always contact our Member of Provincial Parliament:
Michael Harris Jr, Kitchener-Conestoga, Progressive Conservative Party
Rm 434, Main Legislative Bldg,
Queen’s Park M7A 1A8
Toronto: tel 416 326-6945, fax 416 326-6942
Constituency office:
Unit 3 and 4, 63 Arthur St. S., Elmira, N3B 2M6 Mike.harrisco@pc.ola.org
Tel 519 669-2090, fax 519 669-0476
Constituency Office:
498 Eagle St. N., Cambridge N3H 1C2 Belinda.karahalios@pc.ola.org
Tel 519 650-2770, fax 519 650-3918
And you can also call the Premier’s Office directly!
Call 416 325-1941 and leave a short message for Premier Doug Ford re your concerns about Bill 66
Catherine Fife, Waterloo, New Democratic Party
Room 154, Main Legislative Building,
Queen’s Park, Toronto M7A 1A5
Tel 416 325-6913, fax 416 325-6942
Constituency Office:
Suite 220 100 Regina St. S, Waterloo N2J 4P9 (office is in City Hall Bldg)
For legislative issues: Cfife-QP@ndp.on.ca
For community issues: cfife-co@ndp.on.ca
Tel 519 725-3477, fax 519 725-3667
Laura Mae Lindo, Kitchener Centre, New Democratic Party
Room 170, Main Legislative Building,
Queen’s Park, Toronto, M7A 1A5
Tel 416 326-7221, fax 416 326-7217
Constituency Office:
Suite 212, 25 Frederick St., Kitchener, N2H 6M8
For legislative issues: LLindo-QP@ndp.on.ca
For community issues: LLindo@ndp.on.ca
Tel 519 579-5460, fax 519 579-2121
Mike Schreiner, Guelph, Green Party
Room 451, Main Legislative Building,
Queen’s Park, Toronto M7A 1A2
Tel 416 325-4664, fax 416 325-4666 Mschreiner@ola.org
At the end of the day, it’s hard to get the big picture. So for my own interest, I decided to check out Elections Ontario (unofficial results) to get an idea how our Green Candidates did overall. Although I did this for my own interest, Bob pointed out this might be of interest to others, so here it is.
(note: the above all candidates image is actually in three pieces, part 1 is the first 6 rows, part 2 the next 5 rows, and part 3 the last 5 rows. Click on the section you want to see the segment at full size.)
All five of our Waterloo Region Greens candidates did very well overall.
Kitchener South—Hespeler candidate David Weber‘s 7.53 riding vote percentage was the 6th highest in Ontario (up from 7th in 2014). Kitchener Centre‘s candidate Stacey Danckert ranked 9th with 6.84%, Kitchener—Conestoga candidate Bob Jonkman ranked 11th with 6.51%, Cambridge candidate Michele Braniff ranked 14th with 6.27%, and first time candidate Zdravko Gunjevic ranked 24th with 4.83% in Waterloo.
And while I know from personal experience how lucky Waterloo Region has been to have such an excellent roster of WRGreens candidates, I have met enough other Green Party Candidates to know this isn’t really unusual. Frankly, I am continually stunned by the calibre of Green Party Candidates in general. Although the Green Party has far and away the best policy of any of the top four parties, putting your hat in the ring requires a great deal of time, money and effort for any candidate. It’s a big personal investment no matter which party a candidate is running for, and Greens are faced with additional handicaps:
an electoral system that discriminates egregiously against the Greens,
unrelenting propaganda that insists majority government is a good thing,
the exclusion of the Green Party Leader in televised Leaders Debates
the MSM agenda to keep us perpetually cycling between red and blue parties,
the never ending push for strategic voting,
the catch 22 perception that no seats in the legislature means Greens are unelectable, and
the low probability of winning, even when you are the best candidate in your riding.
Green Candidates are well aware of how little chance they have of being elected, but in spite of everything, excellent Green Party Candidates keep stepping up.
Working together is the WRGreens superpower.
Stacey Danckert brought us all together under the unofficial WRGreens umbrella during the 2015 federal election, and our regional cooperation is paying off. Cooperating, sharing our experience and resources has been incredibly helpful for us here in Waterloo Region.
And not just during elections. We’ve been actively working to raise the Green profile between elections, by hosting information tables at local summer festivals where we can, hosting our own events and participating in others as appropriate, and building our online presence on the WRGreens blog. We’re always learning, and we’ll do it even better next time. Especially now that Mike Schreiner has won that so important first seat.
Strategic Voting is a only a good strategy for the candidate who gets the vote we would rather cast elsewhere.
I know how hard it can be to stay positive, and to keep focus on the campaign. But after media suppression, I think our worst threat is falling prey to propaganda.
The strategic voting narrative continues to be powerful, and it is always the worst when it strikes from within.
In many ways I think this is especially difficult for Greens, because Greens are the unparty party, the party that applauds other parties when they appropriate our ideas, even when implemented badly, because it’s a start.
The stakes are so high that sometimes a candidate falls victim to strategic voting propaganda, and suggests their supporters vote instead for a competitor who might win against a greater evil. This really isn’t surprising in a party that understands the importance of working together for the common good. Green Candidates aren’t professional politicians, they’re people from all walks of life who get involved because they understand our future is at stake and change is no longer optional. They’re in this because serious issues that need to be addressed, not for the greater glory of the party.
One of the reasons strategic voting is wrong is that it is always built on the faulty premise that old statistics— whether gleaned from past elections or recent opinion polls— can accurately predict who might win. If this were true, there would be no need for the trouble and expense of elections.
In this campaign, I was particularly unhappy to see a terrible strategic voting meme initiated by Meanwhile In Canada. The post in question actually told voters to vote NDP except in 5 cases, where it said voters should vote Green because Green candidates could win in those 5 ridings. Some Green folk helped spread this meme thinking it might help change the perception that Green candidates couldn’t win.
I don’t know what exactly that prediction was based on, but two of the candidates who went on to rank in the top 5 percentages in their ridings were excluded from the 5 supposedly winnable ridings. We will never know how many more votes those candidates (or all the Green candidates MiC strategically dismissed) might have won if that social media maven hadn’t been telling voters to vote against Greens in the last week of the campaign.
Although there are no scientific studies of which I am aware, I think Strategic Voting is the most powerful vote suppression tool going. When people are convinced their vote won’t have any effect, or worse, that it will help elect the boogeyman provided by our FPTP system, many feel the only responsible choice is not voting.
We only get one vote. That’s not a vote for a party. It’s not a vote for a party leader. It’s a vote for our local representative. I have to wonder how much better Greens would do in elections if they didn’t have to spend half the election explaining what’s wrong with Strategic Voting.
Since I’m sharing rankings, here are the GPO Top 5:
Green Party of Ontario Leader, and Guelph MPP candidate Mike Schreiner‘s 45.04% riding vote percentage was the highest in Ontario. This resulted in the first seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario won by an Ontario Green Party Candidate. Parry Sound—Muskoka‘s candidate Matt Richter ranks 2nd with 20.02%. Laura Campbell ‘s 12.53% of the vote won in Dufferin—Caledon placed her in 3rd position; Barrie—Springwater—Oro—Medonte candidate Keenan Aylwin’s 11.72% of the vote ranks him 4th, and Dave Rodgers 8.64% in Wellington—Halton Hills makes him the 5th highest ranking Ontario Green candidate by percentage.
The Green Party of Ontario is making history, and these five candidates are leading the way forward. Onward!
Hi everyone! Want to see Mike Schreiner participate in the Leaders Debate tomorrow night? Join the Waterloo Region Greens at the Campaign Office for a watching party!
Despite our best efforts, the unelected and unaccountable media consortium has continued with their decision to exclude the Greens from the televised Leaders Debates.
Even though we are silenced, we must stay strong. We will keep pushing to get our Green voices heard, in all the ways we can.
On Sunday, Mike Schreiner will ‘infiltrate the debate’ by hosting a viewing party and doing a live commentary of the televised Leaders Debate in his home riding of Guelph. The event will be livestreamed, so we hope you can all tune in to hear the real solutions Greens want to provide to the province.
Join us at the WR Greens campaign office, perhaps bring a snack to share, and we’ll watch the Facebook live stream.
The Waterloo Region Greens are pleased to welcome Green Party of Ontario leader Mike Schreiner to Kitchener for two events:
Social Innovation for Green stakeholders
When: 4:00pm to 6:00pm on Thursday, 22 March 2018 Where: Kitchener Public Library Location: 85 Queen Street North, Kitchener, Ontario Map
Mike has come to deliver the party’s platform to Waterloo Region.
To get feedback from the community, Mike will host a round-table discussion on the topic: What changes do you need to do what you do?
Community leaders and influencers are invited to participate in discussion groups on different issues that should be addressed by the provincial government.
Mike and his policy team will take all notes and feedback from this session to learn about specific local solutions, whereas the platform will focus on provincial solutions.
This meeting is open to everyone! Light snacks and refreshments will be served.
Social Night with Mike Schreiner
When: 7:00pm to 9:00pm, Thursday 22 March 2018 Where: Abe Erb Waterloo Location: 15 King Street South, Waterloo Map
Join Mike and the WR Greens for a locally brewed beverage, a locally prepared meal or snack, and meet your local Green Party candidates and candidate-nominees from the five Waterloo Region ridings.
The location has not yet been determined, but is sure to be one of the many craft breweries in the area. Mike has long been a champion to free the beer!
Location is confirmed! Come meet Mike Schreiner and the Waterloo Region candidates and nominees at Abe Erb Restaurant and Brewery in Waterloo!
(Mike Schreiner and Michael Masurkevitc at TWB brewery)
Donations towards the Green Party of Ontario election campaigns will be gratefully accepted at both events.
The 1936 Propaganda film “Reefer Madness” helped usher in new Prohibition against Cannabis
American Prohibition did not work.
Wikipedia points out:
Prohibition focused on the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages; however, exceptions were made for medicinal and religious uses. Alcohol consumption was never illegal under federal law. Nationwide Prohibition did not begin in the United States until January 1920, when the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect. The 18th amendment was ratified in 1919, and was repealed in December, 1933, with the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment.[28]
Not only did it not stop otherwise law abiding people from consuming alcohol, the costs — to the economy, the justice system and society — were staggering.
Although the American Prohibition against alcohol never made drinking it illegal, the same was not true of cannabis prohibition in Canada, where users could be fined and imprisoned. As the 20th century wore on, the punishments became more severe, especially as Canada (again) followed the American lead.
The war on drugs is rooted in racist policies, and it’s failure has been as obvious as Prohibition.
During the 2015 election, the NDP talked about decriminalizing cannabis, but the Liberals said that wasn’t good enough; they would take a step further and legalize it.
Sadly voters again gave too much First Past The Post power to one of the same old parties promising “real change”. For real change, you have to vote smart– and different.
Although the Justin Trudeau Government says it will legalize cannabis, its about half way through its term and they keep arresting people.
The Green Party has better policy:
4.9 Ending the war on drugs
Elizabeth May
Between 2008 and 2011, according to the Department of Justice, Canada spent $311 million targeting illicit drugs, with a majority of that money going to law enforcement. Most of that was for the ‘war’ against cannabis (marijuana). Marijuana prohibition is also prohibitively costly in other ways, including criminalizing youth and fostering organized crime. Cannabis prohibition, which has gone on for decades, has utterly failed and has not led to reduced drug use in Canada.After analyzing the recommendation of the Canadian Senate’s 2002 Special Committee on Drugs and the examples of strategies used by some European countries, the Green Party of Canada has come to the conclusion that it is time to legalize the adult use of marijuana. Furthermore, the Greens believe that drug addictions should be treated as a health problem, not as criminal offences.
Green Party MPs will:
Legalize marijuana by removing marijuana from the drug schedule;
Create a regulatory framework for the safe production of marijuana by small, independent growers;
Develop a taxation rate for marijuana similar to that of tobacco;
Establish the sale of marijuana to adults for medicinal or personal use through licensed distribution outlets;
Educate the public about the health threats of marijuana, tobacco, and other drug use;
Launch a public consultation on the decriminalization of illicit drugs, considering the current high costs of the law enforcement effort;
Provide increased funding to safe injection sites, treatment facilities, and addict rehabilitation.
On September 8 of this year, Mike Schreiner, leader of the Green Party of Ontario, made the following comment regarding the proposed regulations for marijuana sales:
“This looks like another Liberal plan to say a lot and do very little, supporting big corporations and political insiders over local small businesses.
Mike Schreiner
Having limited retail outlets across Ontario for legal marijuana will do virtually nothing to combat the huge illegal market.
The Green Party does not support the monopolization of marijuana. The marijuana industry should be like the craft brewery industry – helping build local businesses, creating local jobs and contributing tax dollars to local communities across the province.
The GPO supports strict regulations and controls for marijuana sales. The government can license retails outlets with strict rules focused on safety and health for small businesses.
This announcement at this time is a cynical ploy by the Liberals to divert attention from their ongoing legal scandals.”
Whether you’re an official Green Party of Ontario member, a GPO supporter, or even if you’re just a thinker green thoughts, you’re invited to Riverside Park in Guelph for a (Green) Party In The Park.
Anyone is welcome, even if you’re just curious about the Party that convinced the Government of Ontario to bump up the rates (from $3.71 per million litres to $53.71 per million litres) commercial watertakers like Nestlé pay for our municipal water. That’s still too little — it’s still only about a third of what we pay, but it’s a pretty impressive achievement for a party without a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. If Ontario wants better, we’ll need to start actually voting Green.
The official reason for the party is a Guelph Green Party of Ontario nomination meeting which will launch Mike Schreiner‘s bid to become the first Green Party member in Queen’s Park!
Come on out and meet Mike! Join the free fun with an RSVP:
Spread the word in your own neighbourhood!
Print a poster or two and post them on Grocery Store & other Community Bulletin Boards
[If you’ve never used Flickr, here are some handy instructions for downloading]
wrgreens 