Category Archives: green party

Speaking at Friends of Durika Conference

ecology, green party

This Sunday I’ll be speaking at the Friends of Durika Educational Conference and Reunion.

The Friends of Durika (FOD) is a non profit organization that supports “‘Durika,”Â’ an intentional community in Costa Rica which serves as an international model for sustainable living. People visit this community from around the world in order to learn how to live more lightly on the planet. The goal of FOD is to provide financial support and encouragement for community initiatives and to help educate people everywhere about the importance of making earth-friendly lifestyle decisions. For more information on FOD, visit www.friendsofdurika.org. Information about Durika can be found at www.durika.org.

I’ll be attempting to apply some of the lessons of Durika to a Canadian context, with specific reference to what governments can do to enable and empower individuals and communities. A focus of the conference is on the synthesis of ecological health and social justice.

Date: Sunday, September 24th, 2006
Location: Hart House, University of Toronto (map)
Cost: $15
Agenda
11:30-12 Registration, meet and greet, browsing booths
12-1 Durika (ecovillage) presentation
1-1:30 Durika Documentary
1:30-1:45 AGM
1:45-2:15 Speaker: Chris Tindal
2:30-3 Reunion, browsing booths

In The News Again

green party

Well, the student news. ;-)

http://www.theeyeopener.com/article/2854
…
Ryerson graduate Chris Tindal was 24 when he ran as a Green Party candidate in last January’Â’s election. Tindal says the challenges of running in an election are the same regardless of age: finding time and money.”You have no personal life for the duration of the campaign.” During his campaign, Tindal said some days that began at 7:30 a.m. and ended at 1:30 a.m.
…
When Tindal ran in the federal election, he wanted to relate with voters, especially the youth. He says people respected him and listened to what he had to say in spite of his age. Out of the thousands of doors he knocked on, he only encountered one woman who made a rude comment about his age.

“She sort of laughed and said ‘‘Do you shave?’Â’ But she took the flier anyway. I think she was trying to be funny.”

In other news (how’s that for a transition?), today is International Car Free Day. Do you know where your councillor is?

Congratulations Frank!

green party, ndp

Frank de Jong, leader of the Green Party of Ontario, earned an impressive 6.2% of the vote in yesterday’s Parkdale-High Park by-election. The fact that this increase (up from 5.49 in the last federal election) happened in the face of such a tight “horse race” between the NDP and Liberal candidates makes it even more impressive.

It also happened in the face of some mildly amusing minor political interference. My friend Adriana and I were out “main-streeting” for Frank in the final week of the election when we almost got arrested (note: slight exaggeration is in effect) for, of all things, solicitation. (It’s a funny story, ask me about it some time. Turns out not all Toronto police understand that political candidates are allowed by law to, you know, campaign. Like we live in some sort of democracy or something.)

Congratulations to Frank and everyone on his team (even Adriana and I, the trouble makers).

I want to also congratulate Cheri DiNovo on her win. Cheri’s actually a friend of the family, and I wish her the best.

Hit Me With The Double Digits

green party, ndp, polls

Today, for what I’m pretty sure is the first time, the Green Party of Canada hit 10% in a national poll. This reflects positively on our message and our new leader. It reflects negatively on the status quo parties who are failing to offer leadership.

For your reference, in 1993 with only 6.88% of the popular vote, the NDP elected 9 MPs.

Over the coming months, as the Green Party launches a series of policy conferences across the country, expect to see our popularity and credibility continue to rise.

Can I get a yip yip?