Author archive

Battles for good planning are lost only once but must be won over and over and over again to continue prevailing.  Once again, we are struggling against a small-minded view that would attempt to contain the full flow of the Don River in storm as it courses through a waterfront newly coated with densely packed buildings including a possible big box development.

What former GPC candidate Sharon Howarth led the fight for was the broad and compelling vision of a Don Mouth re-born into something like what nature intended for it – a broad wetland floodplain with a meandering river, filled with songbirds and tall grasses and boardwalks for people to enjoy.  Her vision prevailed in the public mind and thousands of citizens demanded it.  This led to an inspired visioning process that created an award-winning and internationally recognized design.  Since that time, the elements of that design are constantly being chipped away in the name of economy and profit.

Write to your Councillor now (all comments must be in before April 15 so do it today before you forget) and demand that the City recommit to more green space and more renaturalization.  Demand more wetlands to economically clean the air and water, and to help absorb and manage the floods that climate change is likely to inflict on the city.     Read more »

Sorry for the long delay in composing my thank you letter to everyone.

There are three reasons for this delay.  One is that I have just been busy every single second since the end of the campaign packing up the office and talking to the steady stream of supporters and well-wishers.  Second is that I am still digesting the result, which I honestly don’t understand so I’m finding hard to comment on.  And third is that the level of support has simply been so overwhelming and wonderful that I can’t begin to imagine how I would thank everyone enough.

But I do want to say what I’ve maintained ever since I joined the Green Party.  Everything about both the 2011 General Election and about this by-election reaffirms my sense that political fortunes these days have everything to do with the teamwork of the parties involved and the political spin that’s generated in the media around it.  It’s not about me, it’s about all of us working together, and I am so proud to have had such a strong, diverse and talented group of supporters.  It’s for that reason that both in 2011 and in this by-election, I would have loved to see much better results, not for me, but as a reflection of the much larger and better organized campaigns we have run.  You all deserved better in both these elections.  And we obviously need to strategize so that the effort we all put in is maximized in the future.

Thank you.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the most energetic, enthusiastic and cheerful campaign I have ever been privileged enough to be involved with.  Thank you for standing by me, thank you for supporting me, and thanks for the helpful suggestions throughout on how I could improve my debate performance and public speaking.  I have grown a lot during this campaign and we have all grown as a team.  To those who came to help from other ridings, I look forward to working together again on campaigns across the city and beyond. One day, I may be helping on your campaigns and bringing along the Toronto-Danforth team to help out.  We can all grow together, that’s part of the plan.

The day after the 2011 general election, I was weeping into the shredder as I thought about what a disappointment this must be to my team.  This year, I celebrated our hard work on election night with some 50 supporters and walked away, not with a crushing disappointment but with a strong determination to rebuild.  I will be asking our EDA to be appointed as a community outreach organizer, and expect to call each and every one of our identified supporters, asking them for their ideas on how to grow the party and encouraging them to get involved.  Please join our team.     Read more »

I have just finished watching Thomas Mulcair’s acceptance speech as the new NDP leader.  And I still have not publicly congratulated Craig Scott on his victory in Toronto-Danforth (though I did congratulate him personally by phone on election night).  Both men strike me as sincere, knowledgeable, hard-working and capable.  I wish they were in the Green Party.  I am hopeful that they will do their part to move Canada in the right direction within the NDP.

I think Jack Layton would be proud.

A fresh Green voice in Parliament is the biggest change that we can hope for on election day Monday, March 19. This is the most promising message that we can deliver for Canada, for our kids and for the planet. A new Green MP, or even a strong Green turnout in Toronto-Danforth would be the biggest, boldest and most effective message that we could send to Parliament that we need fundamental change, to revitalize democracy, for forward thinking, and for real, positive, sensible solutions to the challenges we face.     Read more »