As Elizabeth would say, “Hip hip hooray”!
I’m writing today to let you all know that Elizabeth May has successfully received a brand new hip. The surgery began at 8 AM this morning (Friday) at the Ottawa General Hospital. By 10 AM, her doctor had called to let us know that the surgery went according to plan and that Elizabeth is resting and doing great.
Not even ten minutes later, the phone rang again. This time, it was Elizabeth, who wanted to tell us for herself that she was doing well after a successful surgery!
Elizabeth will be recovering in the hospital for the next few days and is looking forward to being back on her feet again in six weeks (or less!). Please join me and the rest of the Green Party’s staff in wishing her a speedy recovery.
Camille Labchuk
Press Secretary
Tag Archives: elizabeth may
Elizabeth’s Writing
Elizabeth May has written two things recently that might interest you, and that you probably wouldn’t stumble upon otherwise.
First, her article in the May issue of Policy Options Magazine titled The Saga of Bill C-30: From Clean Air to Climate Change, Or Not is a very interesting explanation of how our laws get made, or, well, not. “It is a saga,” writes Elizabeth, “a story of love and betrayal; of heroics and scandal; of a fight to the death for the future of the planet. It is at least the story of an overwrought and oversold piece of legislation called Bill C-30, The Clean Air Act.”
Second, in all of Sun Media’s papers today (Toronto Sun, Calgary Sun, London Free Press, etc.) Elizabeth squares-off on carbon taxes in a piece called Carbon conundrum. Her case is very compelling and well-argued.
Economists and experts agree that a carbon tax is the single most effective way to deliver a consistent signal to the economy. Among those who support a carbon tax are Don Drummond, chief economist at TD Bank, who explained, “Pollution must have a price tag. Currently it is too cheap to pollute, and too expensive not to.â€
Her opponent, Tom Harris, spends his time denying the severity (or existence?) of climate change while making all sorts of claims he never backs up. Site commenters fail to distinguish between the Green Party, the government of Canada, and “think tanks,” while succeeding in missing the point entirely. Good for a laugh, bad for blood pressure.
Hopefully that will tide you over while you wait for her next (and sixth) book, Global Warming For Dummies, due out later this year or early next. Yes, seriously.
Video of Elizabeth May During Pride Week
There’s an unfortunate irony to blogging: when you’re busy with lots of interesting stuff going on, there’s no time to blog about it. So it has been this past week.
This past Sunday I marched in my third Toronto Pride Parade in a row. I think I’ve mastered the required elements: lots of sunscreen, as little clothing as possible, and a humble acceptance of the inevitability of getting soaked by high-powered water guns (otherwise known as hoses). The banner photo of this site (for the moment at least) was taken just before the parade, and is of Victoria Cate May Burton, myself, Elizabeth May, and Amanda Bond.
The below video, as previously promised, is of Elizabeth’s speech at our Pride Week Meet & Greet earlier that week at Byzantium on Church Street. In it she highlights a few little known Green Party facts, including that we’re the only federal party to have ever had an openly gay leader, and that we became the first federal party to support same-sex marriage in 1996. (Our openly gay leader was Chris Lea, from 1990-1996. For some reason people sometimes make the incorrect assumption that it was Jim Harris, thus Elizabeth’s clarification in the video.)
Thanks Elizabeth, Bill
Last night Elizabeth May came to Toronto Centre for two great events. The first was a Pride Week meet & greet at Byzantium on Church Street, where a diverse group of people gathered to enjoy a special “Green Martini” that had been prepared for the evening. Elizabeth re-affirmed our party’s commitment to LGBT equality, pointing out that the Green Party of Canada is the only federal party to have ever had an openly gay leader (Chris Lea), and was the first party to support equal marriage when we did so in 1996. The second event was an incredible meal at Jamie Kennedy’s Wine Bar (also on Church) with a packed room of about 90 people. Video of both these events to follow.
It was only upon arriving at the first event that I heard Bill Graham had announced his resignation, effective July 2nd, just hours before in the House of Commons. He finished his parting remarks with the following, which is worth reprinting here:
In closing, I want to say one thing about the civility of this place. There has been a lot in the press recently about the lack of civility in the House. It may be attributable to the minority situation we are in and it may be attributable to a lot of causes, but surely we owe it to ourselves to disagree without being disagreeable. We do not need to do that.
I believe everyone in the House carries within him or her the desire to serve our country and, whether one has that desire or not, the capacity to affect the future lives of every citizen of this great land, and to some extent others around the globe. Let us treat each other with the respect that thought brings. In what we bring to this place, let us respect one another and, in so doing, I believe our fellow countrymen will respect this institution and respect us for the work we do.
Those words informed my comments at last night’s dinner. It’s not just the lack of civility that’s worrisome, it’s the disrespect that this government is showing for Parliament itself. Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party have the right to believe what they do, to advocate for their positions, to run in elections, and to implement their agenda when elected. They do not, however, have the right to sabotage our democratic systems, which is what they are guilty of doing.
I want to publicly say again that Bill has been a good MP and that I’m grateful to him for his years of service. It was fun having him as an opponent. There’s one final quote I’d like to leave you with, again taken from his comments in the House yesterday, that I found particularly interesting.
“It is important that [the people of Toronto Centre] be represented by a future voice rather than someone from the past.”