There has been some confusion, due to a lack of information, about my status. A brief update:
March 18th – With the completion of the March 17th by-election, I cease to be a candidate for Parliament. I inform the Toronto Centre riding association and the leadership and organizing staff of the Green Party of Canada that if there is another election in 2008 I will not be a candidate. I also inform the other groups I’m a part of (including the Federal Campaign Committee) that I will need to take some time away from volunteer duties to focus on work and family.
August – Elizabeth May and I discuss the fact that since I’m no longer a prospective candidate I’ll need to be replaced on Shadow Cabinet (being a candidate is a prerequisite of being a member of SC). I suggest some people to replace me. I don’t know how to determine the exact date when I ceased to be a member of the Green Party’s Shadow Cabinet, but I am definitely no longer on SC now.
November 5 – The Toronto Centre Federal Green Party Association holds an AGM. A new executive is selected; I do not stand for reelection (I was previously a member at large).
December 10 – I resign from the Federal Campaign Committee. The timing was partly due to the fact that the FCC, under a new chair, restructured to include only functional positions that require a significant time commitment. In practice I had been an inactive member of the committee since the March by-election.
As of right now, my only title or status with any political party is that I remain a member of the Green parties of Canada and Ontario.
Finally, just to be extra clear, in case any of you were wondering I am totally not this guy.
Chris, with all due respect, on more than one occasion, you were introduced as a “Green Party Strategist”, I believe, in some of the video clips you have posted below.
Now, you suggest “In practice I had been an inactive member of the committee since the March by-election.”
So, were you freelancing in these clips, or did the media have your position incorrectly stated?
I don’t think there’s an inconsistency here, but I can see why it might look that way, so without getting into too much detail I’ll try to clarify. In short, my involvement on the FCC and my role as a media spokesperson in the last election are somewhat separate issues.
I was still a member of the FCC until December 10th, and I did still attend some phone meetings and participate in some email conversations. During the campaign I think it would be accurate to say I attended most phone calls, but that was mostly to receive updates, not to make decisions. My sense is that since March I’ve missed more meetings than I’ve attended, especially since they were moved to take place during business hours in the last few months (a decision I informed the FCC was incompatible with my schedule).
In addition I was asked by the media team to be a spokesperson during the last election. They arranged for many of the interviews I did, including the first one on CTV Newsnet. It was the media team who provided CTV with the title of strategist and it stuck for the rest of the campaign. I don’t think it was inaccurate. Strategist is a term that’s used pretty loosely by all political parties, and I wouldn’t even necessarily have had to be a member of the FCC to be considered a strategist, IMHO, if that’s what the federal party said I was.
Does that help clarify?
Nope
Ok, want to try a few more incisive questions?
OK, try this one. We have witnessed over the past few days a repetition of 2006 events where Russia has cut-off gas supplies to parts of Eastern and Western Europe.
Should Russia be allowed to do this? If not, should the consumers of Russian gas demand guarantees that their supply be not subject to political whims or extortion by the Russians, or alternatively, if there is a shortage of gas, proportional rationing?
What are your views on the solution to the Russian problem with iunsecure and unreliable energy supply.
Hi Chris:
Glad to read about what you’re up to and and that GPC/O are still the only parties for us (even if another party continues to waste postage on me!)