Archive for Social justice & diversity

I experienced my most aggressive interviewer today. It was kind of funny.     Read more »

Above, Adriana’s closing remarks — cut from David Langer’s full video, below:     Read more »

for International Women’s Day
Thursday, 2012 March 8, 5pm
East end of Bloor Street viaduct
(west of Broadview subway station,
north side parkette at Danforth and Cambridge)

Join Adriana Mugnatto-Hamu, Green Party of Canada candidate in the current by-election for Toronto-Danforth for a march in solidarity with people everywhere who seek equality for women, especially as elected representatives in government.  In Canada, only 25% of our elected representatives in the House of Commons are women.  Adriana is the only woman in a field of 11 candidates in the Toronto-Danforth by-election.     Read more »

President Mohammed Nasheed has been ousted by a military coup and is under house arrest.  I’m taking a bit of time out of my campaign to urge everyone to help him.  Please sign this petition and then write to Prime Minister Harper, urging him to use his influence to secure the release of Mr Nasheed.

President Nasheed was the first democratically elected leader of the Maldives.  Hear why we need his voice to be free:

Our family just celebrated the first night of Hanukkah with menorah, latkes, dreidels and other games.  May your holidays be filled with light and happiness.

The Green Party has for many years been promoting a guaranteed annual income (GAI).  It should be more economical than the hodgepodge of existing income support programmes, it will capture people who aren’t served by the current system (such as caregivers for family members who need round-the-clock support), and it addresses the dignity that every Canadian deserves.     Read more »

I’ve been following the COP17 climate change conference in Durban, South Africa from right here in Riverdale.  This will be a long, rambling omnibus post on my thoughts and concerns.     Read more »

I’ve been following the “Occupy Toronto” movement that’s powered by youth and hope in a world of corruption and decadence.  I hope that it will prove to be the catalyst for the new ideas we need to take us forward.

This movement is occurring in a context.  Though many of the participants may be unaware of it, there is a fairly obvious underlying reason for the rising levels of anger.     Read more »

The Toronto-based group For Our Grandchildren has produced this wonderful video:

For Our Grandchildren – Something Must Be Done from Stephen Best on Vimeo.

If the video stutters, click on the HD in the lower-right-hand corner.  Even in “low-def”, it’s quite high-definition.

Tuesday, 2011 September 20, 7 pm
Danforth Collegiate and Technical Institute
(800 Greenwood Ave north of Danforth Ave)

Toronto-Danforth Trustee Cathy Dandy is holding a debate on Education and Tim Whalley, Green Party of Ontario candidate for Toronto-Danforth, will be one of the featured speakers. Come show your support for Tim and for education in Ontario!

Thanks, Chris, for these beautiful photos.     Read more »

Happy new year to all Ethiopian Canadians.  May the year now beginning be blessed with peace, justice, health and prosperity.

I was honoured to address Ethiopian Canadians yesterday at their festival in Christie Pits park.  Wonderful food, music and dancing were on offer and I stayed most of the afternoon.

የካናዳ ግሪን ፓርቲ መመሪያዎች በስድስት መርሆዎች ላይ የተመሠረቱ ናቸው፤ …

I previously wrote about Patricia Warwick, one of the “Fabulous 45″ – so named because although they came to Washington expecting to face a $100 “post and forfeit” for defying the rules of the park in front of the White House, they discovered that those arrested the previous day were to be held for 3 days.  The 45 risked arrest anyway.

The actions against the Keystone XL pipeline (which would enable a vast expansion in the capacity for oil production from the tar sands) at the White House continued for another 12 days after Patricia’s arrest, with over 1200 arrests in total, including east Toronto residents Sharon Howarth, the Green Party of Canada candidate in Toronto-Danforth in the 2008 federal election and David Wilson, an oil industry retiree.  Tar Sands Action, which organized this demonstration, vows to continue working to oppose the pipeline

The action against the Keystone XL Pipeline is now moving to Canada, where activists are planning a sit-in on September 26. You can find out more and join here.

Toronto-Danforth Greens extend their sympathy to Jack Layton’s family and to his NDP family and supporters.  Jack will always be remembered in this community as a tireless fighter, a passionate spokesperson, a man who loved Canada and inspired everyday heroes.

I have often thought of reversing the way that proportional representation is calculated and applying it to the MPs already in Parliament.

The one Green seat represents almost 580,000 votes.  166 Conservative seats represent 5.8 million votes.  So while each Conservative MP represents just over 35,000 voters, Elizabeth May represents 580,000.

Therefore one Green is worth 16 Conservatives.     Read more »

Elizabeth’s question regarding the budget was smart.  Watch the Conservative member avoid the question.  He does not answer why the government perversely chose to trim the most democratic and fair form of public finance for political parties.  The Conservatives like the subsidies that give rich people the majority of their money back when they contribute to political parties, but would deny the funding that goes to parties people vote for even when they can’t afford to contribute.

You can get a good explanation of what is going on here.

If you watch through to the end of this short video, it covers why I entered politics.  What is now at stake is food security, water security, and the ability to deliver the fundamentals of decent civil society.  All of these are already stressed and becoming more so.  Concerns about things like gas prices, while important in our current state of addiction, nonetheless need to be contextualized in a world of threats that are far, far greater.

About a week after the election, I wrote what I worried might be too strident a post and finally published it now.  Someone has to hold the NDP accountable.  Their climate policy is possibly the worst of all parties, as they continually find creative new ways to subsidize fossil fuels.     Read more »

The NDP have now grown up into a mainstream, increasingly centrist party nickel-and-diming the poor for their vote and misleading on the environment.  I’m deeply disturbed by their success in Toronto-Danforth.

Over a week has passed since the night while I watched in horror as the Harper government got its majority coupled with the relatively minor shock of seeing the Green vote collapse in Toronto-Danforth despite the widely acknowledged strongest campaign we have ever had.

Nationally I am most concerned about a majority government which clearly caters to oil industry priorities.  In Toronto-Danforth specifically, I’m concerned about the success the NDP has had with convincing voters with timid and contradictory policies that will do little for climate change and will hurt the constituents the party has professed to care about in the past.  I ran a campaign promoting the positive aspects of the Green plan without challenging the obvious defects of NDP policies.  But it’s clear to me now that these need to be made explicit.

I had never expected to win in the NDP leader’s riding this time around, but I did hope for a strong Green vote to pressure Jack Layton and the NDP to improve their climate change policies and address some of the priorities of Green voters.  That didn’t happen, so I need people who care about the Green Party, the thousands who told me that they were considering voting Green, to help put the pressure on the NDP to get it right.

It’s time to stop mincing words.  The stakes are simply far too high.     Read more »

Adriana gave out these bookmarks at TTC subway stations during morning and afternoon rush hours in the third week of the campaign.

    Read more »

I have been wanting to comment for days on the appalling response to flooding in First Nations communities.  Apparently the election is getting in the way of what was always an inadequate response.

This very much summarizes my experience in Cancún.

Watching the youth count the dead brought tears to my eyes now just as it did in Cancún

A group of volunteers — William, Amy, Ron, Jo, Michael and myself — joined Adriana and her son on a visit to East Chinatown.  We started with lunch at Simon’s Wok, and then met with business owners and shoppers while putting up campaign signs and distributing cards.     Read more »

Andrew Jackson, the chief economist of the Canadian Labour Congress, a research associate with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and lifelong NDP member, has declared that he may have to do a rethink.  As we have been saying, the Green Party platform is both bolder and more fair on the one hand, and more economical and efficient on the other.