Green Book: Climate Change
Elizabeth May just completed a whirlwind trip through Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. Large, packed venues—with no “invitation-only” security or Facebook screenings—prove that our message is resonating with Canadians. She travelled on regularly scheduled airplanes, trains, ferries, and buses, and nearly everyone reached out to say “good luck” and to express their anger at her exclusion from the leaders’ debates. I find her exclusion particularly upsetting as all the other parties and the national media have decided that the single largest threat to civilization, climate change, is not an issue in this election. In the 2008 federal election campaign, Green candidates were often asked, “What’s the point of the Green Party when all the parties are trying to be green?” In 2011, the question has shifted, “Now that climate change is not an issue, what’s the point of the Green Party?” What’s the point of the Green Party? Climate change is not a belief. It is real and it is happening now. Individuals are doing their part, but we need immediate government action. Only Green MPs will advocate for the necessary policy changes—whether the media consider it front page news or not. If you want to keep the environment in the spotlight, if you want to protect democracy, then please, make your donation of $50 or $100, put up a lawn sign, and knock on some doors with your local candidate.
