For Immediate Release
LUMBY — Effective today, Huguette Allen resigns as Okanagan-Shuswap Green Party candidate. Allen was nominated candidate in March 2007 and ran federally in 2008 and again provincially in 2009, both times increasing the Green vote by 400%. Read the rest of this entry »
THE COST OF GROWTH
Recent water pollution problems in Coldstream are but one of the most visible costs society pays for allowing the privatization of our resources, and for allowing more growth than our resources can support.
While the exact problems that caused the most recent water pollution have not yet been admitted, we can safely point to many causes. These causes are well known and have been brought to the attention of all levels of government over the last 20 years or more. During the last 4 years, ordinary people from just about every community east, west, and north of Vernon have urged local government, MoE, as well as Environment Canada to take action. One would hope that water basin boards must have also warned elected officials about upcoming disasters. Read the rest of this entry »
Letter to the Morning Star by John Lewis
I believe it is inappropriate to pick on our MP Colin Mayes. It is not his fault that he has no grasp of the climate change issue much less any ideas regarding how it might be dealt with.
It is not his fault that he sees no problem in the federal government ducking its responsibilities in these difficult times and with so many important questions outstanding.
He was not elected to represent us, no MP is. He was elected because we wanted a Conservative government and he was, as Pierre Berton described MPs, the “trained seal” the party put forward.
If we had wanted an MP to represent us, who understood the issues, who had solid ideas about how they could be economically dealt with, and had the best interests of the country and the people at heart we would have voted for Huguette Allen regardless of the party she represents.
But we preferred to support the powerful vested interests and the status quo. We voted for a party not an MP. So stop picking on Colin, he may be a party hack but he’s the party hack we wanted and have no right to expect any better from him.
L.J. Lewis,
Coldstream
Dear Citizens of Canada,
Like most of the world’s people I have always held your nation in high regard. Yours is one of the best-loved countries on earth, renowned for being friendly, peaceful and responsible. Your government is now burning this goodwill.
After abandoning the commitments the previous government made under the Kyoto Protocol, ensuring that Canada will be the only signatory wildly to miss its targets, the Harper administration is now sabotaging the climate talks which will culminate in Copenhagen next month. During the negotiations in Bangkok in October, the developing nations were so dismayed by Canada’s wrecking tactics that most of them walked out while your officials were speaking. In Barcelona this month the NGOs attending the talks presented Canada with their Fossil of the Week award: yours was the nation which had done most to prevent an agreement from being reached. Read the rest of this entry »
Dear Premier Campbell, Minister Shea, Eric Foster MLA Vernon-Monashee,
Colin Mayes MP Okanagan-Shuswap
Similar to other forms of “factory” farming, wherever in the world salmon is farmed in open net-cages, disease outbreaks cannot be controlled. The Chilean industry has been devastated by Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) for two years and both Scotland and Norway continue to discover new cases. North America is not immune to viral diseases.
The constant threat of a disease running rampant through the industry’s open net-cages puts our wild fish at unacceptable levels of risk.
This week, governments around the world are being asked to take responsibility for making salmon farming safe for wild fish stocks and ocean ecosystems. Please let me know what specific actions your governments are taking to address the impacts of open net-cages.
Sincerely,
Russ Collins and Huguette Allen,
130 Shuswap River Dr
Lumby V0E 2G6
250-547-0272
The logic of not voting for a candidate because the candidate doesn’t appear to be the one that is going to be elected serves no purpose.
In fact, I am a candidate for the Green Party in the east central part of Alberta. The chances I will be elected are slim. Why do I run then? I run because democracy does not… WILL NOT… work if we all do not stand up and take part in honest, open, respectful discourse about what we want this country to be.
Like you (even though I am a candidate), I do not agree with every Green policy. But that is the magic of this party. All candidates can differ on points of policy to some degree and this party is okay with that. The Green Party wants me to be accountable to the people I will represent… to the people in my community… to the culture of my community… to the traditions of my community. The Green Party allows for the democratic process to move to a place where the will of individuals and the representatives they elect to make their honest views part of our democratic debate.
Running in a federal election costs me a great deal: time away from my farm… my family… my volunteer activities and my job (ie. my salary). It costs me in a big way, but I do it because I want the democratic process to work. I want to give people options. When I hear people (particularly young people) tell me they would not vote for me even if they think I am the best candidate simply because they perceive my electability as low… I am truly saddened.
In a nutshell. Vote for who you believe best represents the voice you want heard in Parliament. To do anything else is dishonest… to Canada… to your community… and to yourself.
William Munsey
Green Candidate
Constituency of Vegreville-Wainwright (Alberta)
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