Ask-The-Contestants!

Hi there Amélie-Mikasa, and thanks for your question.

Chad and I are team-builders. That’s fundamentally our approach to leadership, and I believe it is this that most sets us apart from the other competitors in this race. Neither of us are ‘lone wolf’ style leaders.

Our campaign is not about ‘the two of us’, it’s about ‘all of us’, as the whole Green team.

We know that successful teams require a few key attributes:
* Alignment on clear goals and plans
* Strong relationships, trust and respect between all members.
* Letting go of micro-management, and empowering everyone in the team to lead, in their domain of expertise and influence, so that everyone feels like they contribute to success.
* A culture of responsibility (doing what you have said you will do) and accountability (accepting and learning from mistakes).

This is how we have built our campaign team for this leadership race, and it is how Chad and I intend to continue leading the party.

In our 6 month plan ( https://www.keenanwalcott.ca/6monthplan ) we have committed to, in the first 10 days, making personal phone calls to every single competitor in this leadership race, as well as the 2020 leadership race, to share what we most appreciated about their contributions, to encourage them to stay engaged and run as candidates, and ask how they would like to contribute to the party.

I can imagine each of the members of the race taking on Shadow Cabinet roles, should they be willing to do so.

Elizabeth May, of course, deserves a special note. She is an elected parliamentarian, and will remain as the party’s Parliamentary Leader in the House of Commons. Chad and I are committed to working in full partnership and collaboration with Elizabeth and Mike Morrice, MP for Kitchener Center. We want to see the incredible work of our caucus lifted up and amplified. As leaders, we will need their insights and expertise, as we choose how to prioritize the issues and campaigns that the party will focus on.

We know that deep trust will be needed between the party leaders, our parliamentary caucus, our Executive Director, and Federal Council, and we will do the work to build and maintain that trust.

For the other candidates - Shadow Cabinet posts are one simple way to recognize their strengths. Sarah has deep expertise and knowledge on nuclear issues, and Indigenous language education. Simon could play an important role championing both bilingualism and environmental policies within the party, and he has recently served on Shadow Cabinet. Jonathan’s experience in conflict would make him an ideal candidate for Global Affairs or Defence posts, bringing forward the Green vision of a peaceful world.

However, I also know from having served on Shadow Cabinet in the past, that this body is in need of rebuilding. In the three years that I served on Shadow Cabinet, it has never been particularly well-organized or effective, though there was progress made under the leadership of Dr Kuttner. There was also an unnatural separation between Shadow Cabinet and the member-driven policy process, which is not how our party Constitution is designed to function.

Chad and I want to continue the work of strengthening Shadow Cabinet, so that it fulfills the mandate given to it by the Constitution, and so that it is ‘working smarter’. The hours that Critics put in can be more effective. Critics should be playing a central role in in helping to increase member knowledge of our grassroots policies. And by crafting effective campaigns, we can support Shadow Critics to help move the needle of public opinion as well.

Outside of Shadow Cabinet, I hope that all our previous competitors will participate in our Green Leaders’ Network ‘campaign school’, sharing their campaign experience and skills with other members, and helping to build up their public presence in their local District Associations.