Ask-The-Contestants!

Dear Mary Ann,

Thank you for your question! By choosing Elizabeth and me as a team, members are sure to have a party that can create awareness effectively on climate change and our social policies, both within and outside Parliament.

Collectively we are best served by knowledgeable politicians - preferably with lived experience - who can listen and communicate in an inspiring manner to support the work of mobilisers and organizers both within and outside the party. Our team is best able to offer this to the membership from day one.

We cannot generalize the enthusiasm Greens have towards politics to the majority of Canadians. Most Canadians have little time or interest to care about politics. And they won’t be “organized” or “mobilized” before they are inspired to take interest. We need politicians who can explain the system we live in with compelling examples. Again, we are the best team to organize and mobilize the membership of the Green Party of Canada.

Leading up to the next election, I pledge to be a co-leader who travels throughout the country – just as I have done during this campaign – to listen, ask questions, document and communicate in all available fora the urgency of acting to combat climate change.

My background as an activist, raising awareness about genocide in high schools, as a journalism trainer in two conflict areas, as a human rights investigator and advocate for the world’s two most prominent independent human rights NGOs speaks to my ability to listen empathetically, and communicate convincingly, with a wide range of audiences. There’s little need to speak to Elizabeth’s, who remains one of Canada’s most respected voices on climate and continues to draw crowds wherever she goes.

For Canadians to take interest in politics and feel they can participate between elections, we also need to offer them the example of our amazing shadow cabinet members, federal councillors and candidates who, like Paul Manly, Mike Morrice and so many others, are deeply engaged in their communities.

However, Elizabeth and I know that sustaining a high level of political engagement outside the writ period can be difficult, especially for parents, full-time students or employees, which is why we will fundraise actively and early to ensure our candidates receive support from the party as they campaign early. We’ve already raised over 60% of the total amount of money raised by all candidates, and we will do better once elected.

You can read more about our 6-month plan here: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/62a0fcd6201b0b6f903c44f2/t/6344d54596c1152d6f6b3f45/1665455430690/6+month+plan+V2.pdf

Kind regards,
Jonathan