Archive for 2008 September

Toronto-Danforth candidates on Goldhawk Live
Friday, 2008 October 3, 7 pm
Rogers TV cable channels 10 and 63

Catch Sharon and the other Toronto-Danforth candidates on the Rogers televised debate with Dale Goldhawk. There will be one minute openings and one minute closings, with questions from Dale Goldhawk and phone-in questions for the rest of the hour.

A video prepared by InsideTorontoVotes.ca:

Recently, I have been spending a lot of time talking to people in the subway stations. I have come across a number of young people and especially high school students who are concerned about their future, especially in regards to the environment.     Read more »

From last week’s CBC article:

[Toronto Mayor David Miller] spoke about the need for a ban on handguns on a day that saw three homicides in the GTA, as well as the shooting of a 16-year-old in a city high school.

See our statement on fighting gun crime.

But Miller also pointed out that so far, only the Green party has directly addressed the growing needs of Canadian cities. [Emphasis added.]

    Read more »

Update:  This is an old post.  Click here for 2011.

Toronto-Danforth All-candidates meeting
Tuesday, 2008 October 7, 8 pm
Riverdale Collegiate, 1094 Gerrard St East
not: St Barnabas Anglican Church

Update: Now combined with Ralph Thornton debate, so some of the debate-format information below may have changed… Each of the candidates will be given 10 minutes to speak to the audience. There will be a 45-minute question and answer period and then each candidate will be given 2 minutes to summarize their position.     Read more »

Sharon will be on the streets in Riverdale’s East Chinatown:

Sunday, 2008 September 21, 1 pm
Gerrard St from Broadview to Logan

Sharon Howarth will be meeting people on the street at the Gerrard India Bazaar:

Sunday, 2008 September 21, 2 pm
Gerrard St from Greenwood to Coxwell

Homeless Response Alliance all-candidates meeting
Tuesday, 2008 September 23, 12:30 pm
WoodGreen, 875 Queen St East

Toronto-Danforth candidates to speak about homelessness and poverty, including the connections to immigration and refugees. Sharon Howarth will be there. For more information, contact Holly Kraer at 416-850-8785 or 647-222-4420.

Here’s Elizabeth May talking about poverty and homelessness:

And here she is talking about poverty and seniors:

    Read more »

…or, more accurately, Ed Chin, our Official Agent, aided by Mary Ann Grainger, our Campaign Manager, and also all the volunteers who collected signatures, has won the race to make Sharon Howarth the first candidate officially registered in our riding. Ed is shown here signing the final registration papers with Sharon.

The official Green Party of Canada election platform was released today to wide acclaim by Elizabeth May at a news conference.

Read the 8-page document (large type) for yourself. You can find it here… Looking Forward: A Fresh Perspective on Canada’s Future (VoteForTomorrow.ca).

Sharon at Elizabeth’s September 12 media conference.

One of the main goals of my campaign is to take back democracy — by empowering people. Canada’s current political system makes democracy hindering for the average person. The system has not changed since the days of the confederation when only white males who held property were allowed to vote. Furthermore, the Liberals and the Conservatives have been the two parties of government for over 100 years.

This outdated political system has lead to the phenomenon known as strategic voting.     Read more »

Canadian Federal Election
Tuesday, 2008 October 14

For more info check out the Elections Canada Website, especially to see what identification you need.

Throughout my life I have worked very hard to bring awareness and promote change to issues that matter to me. This would have been impossible if I had not had the support of all of you. Throughout my campaign I have met so many people who have given their support to me and the Green Party, making all my efforts feel so valuable.     Read more »

Throughout my community involvement and my political experiences, I have come across far too many people who claim not to care about politics and government. I find this impossible to believe. It’s human nature to care about politics and government. Everyone has ideals, morals, values and issues that are important to them. The purpose of democracy is to represent these values and ideals on a larger scale, in order to create a society that people are proud to live in.

Therefore when people say that don’t care about politics, it really means that they have lost faith in the system and the old-line parties.      Read more »

A letter cc-ed from a resident, reproduced with permission:

Mr. Lang,

Thank-you for meeting with me the other night – I appreciate the demands on your time.  But – as you and I discussed last week – it is important that all Canadians vote their conscience.

For that reason, I cannot support the Liberals, including any act that could be construed as support, such as supporting a Liberal candidate.

I was appalled to learn that Mr. Dion’s version of support for expanded democracy (i.e., including Elizabeth May in the debates) was so feeble.  True support doesn’t come with conditions.     Read more »

Everyone makes assumptions or accepts assumptions others have made.

A scientist never believes that she is right. She does her best to prove herself wrong, and then, in the absence of such proof, behaves as if she might in fact be right.

A politician never believes that she is wrong. She does her best to associate with people who agree with her, and in the absence of any agreement, behaves as if she might be in fact be a wee bit wrong.     Read more »

Elizabeth May is traveling across the country by train. Come see her when she stops in Toronto:

Elizabeth May’s whistle-stop
Wednesday, 2008 September 24, 8:30 pm
Hockey Hall of Fame, Yonge & Front

Cash bar, hor d’eoeuvres, music. Update: Elizabeth’s train will be arriving closer to 9:40 pm. I’m sure reception will still start on time.

Looking to waste some time? Try this Whack the PM game. Inexplicably starts with Obama and McCain, but then is replaced by our own Canadian crowd.

Elizabeth May will be Rex Murphy’s Guest on Cross Country Check-up today (Sunday, September 14) at 4:00 pm on CBC Radio 1… They are spending the entire two hours fielding questions about the Green Party and its policies…

I look forward to working together with you, the people of Toronto-Danforth, to send a strong message to Stephen Harper, Stephane Dion and Jack Layton that the days of partisan, left/right, exclusionary politics are OVER. That the time for action on climate change is NOW.

I’ve spent virtually every day of the last 11 months going street by street, knocking on doors to speak directly with as many voters as I could, to introduce myself one on one and to listen to what you have to say.     Read more »

Sharon Howarth was the Toronto-Danforth candidate for the Green Party of Canada in the 40th Canadian federal election (in 2008).  The Green candidate for the 41st general election (2009?) is Adriana Mugnatto-Hamu.     Read more »

edit: Less than an hour after I posted this, the Conservatives backed down and said they will allow Elizabeth to participate. Now they’re just trying some funny stuff about bringing McKay in.. anyway. Read below for an outline of the drama for democracy.     Read more »