Archive for 2006 September

Ever since I’ve received the fundraising schedule from the GPC, I’ve been stunned by the relentless nature of it.  There is some form of fundraising going on every month.  Our local riding association is responsible for none of it, and benefits only indirectly.  If you have passed your name onto the central party, either by purchasing a membership, donating to the central party, or ordering a sign from the central office during the election, they have your contact information and there is currently no way for the EDA to opt out of fundraising activities.  If I got your name because you ordered a sign locally or were canvassed by phone during the election, I haven’t passed on your name, so you shouldn’t be called.

There is provision to flag supporters who do not want to be called, or who want to restrict fundraising calls.  If you want me to pass on these restrictions to the hub, please contact me at adriana@danforthgreens.ca.  I would very much like to share the lists of our supporters with the head office, and I’ve been told that when their new database is set up, the EDA will be able to add flags directly.

Just as a warning, I’ll tell you what you can expect over the next couple of months.  Right now, there are two major campaigns going on, with another about to begin next week.

On September 4, a fundraising letter was sent to all members, donors and supporters, including those with no gift history.  There is a simultaneous phone campaign to upgrade monthly donors.  On September 11, this campaign will be reinforced by an email blast to all members and supporters as well.  All this will be repeated on November 1.  In between, there will be a newsletter with solicitation attached.

Meanwhile, we’ve decided that at the EDA level, we will restrict fundraising between elections.  We will have to press for financial support when we urgently need it for signs and brochures.  Until then, we want you to enjoy your involvement in the Green community in Toronto-Danforth.

I’d like to thank Steve Downie, Susan Crofts and Dave Toderick for alerting me to the Toronto Star article about the sale of Canadian flow batteries to an Irish wind-power developer to even out the variations in wind electricity generation.  This is exciting news, and supports what the Realistic Energy Plan for Toronto, which I coauthored, proposed.     Read more »

This blog is for the Green Party of Canada.  The Green Party of Ontario, while sharing the same principles, and being part of the same global Green family, is a separate organization, with separate membership, separate policy, separate leadership, separate financing and a focus on provincial issues.

I’ve been thrilled to watch the Green Party of Canada undergo a significant expansion in Toronto-Danforth over the time I’ve been involved.  The Green Party of Ontario, however, has not experienced the same growth.  Riding president Paul Charbonneau left the presidency following his run in the byelection in March and the constituent assembly has been disbanded.

Because the two organizations are linked and strong associations and candidates help each other at both levels, it is important to the development of the GPC in Toronto-Danforth that we also have a strong GPO presence.  Doug Wright, a very hardworking member of our executive at the GPC, is willing to take on a central role in the GPO, but he can’t do it alone.  So if anyone out there has been wondering how you can help, there is lot to be done at the provincial end.  Please contact Doug Wright at doug@danforthgreens.ca if you are interested.  We need to start getting this organization into shape for the scheduled provincial election in November 2007.

Colleen Perrin wrote to me a month ago or so with her concerns about the treatment of elephants at the Toronto Zoo.  Although the life expectancy of Toronto’s elephants is the same as that of wild elephants, there are concerns that it should be higher, since zoo elephants do not face dangers such as droughts and poaching.  The matriarch elephant was recently euthanized due to pain from a bone cyst, and there is reason to believe that lack of winter exercise and socialization may be a contributing factor.  Colleen is asking everyone to find out more at:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/the-long-goodbye-of-the-toronto-zoo-elephants-1.1894496

and then to write a letter asking for improvements to the elephant exhibit.

My husband Charlie is lying in bed unable to move.  He’s a baby when he’s in pain, so today I’m not taking my customary long walks, but rather just hanging out to feed him painkillers and muscle relaxants.

All this began on Saturday, a day that I promised to spend with Charlie, having returned a few days before from Ottawa, where I had spent most of a week at the Green Party convention.  Now, we don’t have days together when Charlie travels for a week, which happens with some regularity, but me being gone for a week is unusual enough that a day together was deemed necessary.

We spent our day romantically handing out flyers for Frank de Jong’s campaign in Parkdale-High Park in the rain.  I cannot say I recommend this as a date.  Coming down a sleek set of stairs with no handrail, Charlie flipped onto his back, breaking off the lower step and quite possibly cracking a rib.  We walked home very slowly on Saturday, with Charlie romantically grabbing my shoulder in his pincer-like grip every time he had a spasm.  Yesterday, properly medicated, Charlie was okay for most of the day.  Last night, every movement was painful.

This morning, Steve Downie, our friend and Charlie’s coworker, arrived for a breakfast appointment to which he had specifically requested that Charlie wear his pants, and was disappointed that pants were not an option and really, neither was breakfast.

Charlie has been instrumental in organizing the Danforth Greens website, this blog and much of the database.  He’s also incredibly tolerant of the fact that I don’t seem to have time for him anymore, often noting with satisfaction that he actually enjoys watching me get involved with things again after almost two decades of watching children.  He doesn’t complain that the house is turning into a pigsty, and he actually sometimes gets more excited than I am about my various causes.  He’s an important force behind the scenes who deserves some recognition.

If anyone reading this is a Parkdale-High Park voter, remember Charlie’s sacrifice for the Greens and vote for Frank de Jong in the provincial by-election.