Dave Bagler

Last night the Green Party of Ontario took some important strides in the ridings of Leeds-Grenville (LG) and Ottawa West-Nepean (OWN).

In 2007 we were 3rd in LG with 7.18% of the vote.  We led the NDP by only 86 votes (we had 2,907, they had 2,821) with 40,462 or 54.9% of voters participating.  Last night we extended our 86 vote lead on the NDP to 700!  With a voter turn out that dropped down to 36.9% every party last votes.  However we lost the least number of votes or second least proportionally depending on how you want to look at it.

For GPC members we have the members yahoo group.
For those interested in the goings on of federal council we have the council observers list.
For those interested in Green policy development there's a group for you.

There are lots of groups.  Some say too many, and they might have a case but there has been one group that we have gone far too long without.  There has been one group that has been so obviously needed it is shocking that is only being created now.

I invite all of you to join the new Google group, GPC Crazies!

Are you a birther? Truther? Druid?

GPC Crazies is the place for you!

Jews control new media? SUV ownership should be a capital crime?  We should get rid of countries and organize by biosphere?

Accountability. Transparency. Good internal governance. Strong leadership. This is what the Green Party and it's volunteers deserve. This blog will focus on how the Green Party operates as a means to encouraging the Party to become the best political party it can be.

If you visit report on greens that's what you'll find at the top.  I guess it's the motto of RoG, and how could you disagree?

I noticed that paragraph after reading the Chronicle Herald article title Greens may give May a break on leadership rules.  In a word the title is misleading.

There was great news today for both of the Green Party of Ontario by-election campaigns in the form of a strong endorsement from Randall Denley in the Ottawa Citizen.

From our candidates to, our leader, to our party's policies Mr. Denley is very impressed.

On our competition:

"There are the Liberals, with their scandals and broken promises; the PCs, still trying to figure out who they are; and the NDP, for those who think we don’t have enough socialism and big government."

On our platform:

"...the Greens have policies that are much more in sync with real life than those of their competitors."

On Mike's involvement in the by-elections:

On Monday Georges Laraque was a guest on Power & Politics.  I didn't get around to watching it until today but I was impressed.  Georges was probably not as comfortable in English as he would have been in French but he did well.  Host Evan Solomon took his normal approach of "why the hell would you bother with the GPC?" but Georges stood his ground.

He stressed the importance of the environment but more than that he pointed out how the other issues are tied to it.  He proudly stated that he believed in what the Green Party is trying to accomplish and urged others to do the same.

As long as he's up for it Georges Laraque could be quite an effective spokes person especially in Quebec. 

This is a cross post from http://granolabloggers.blogspot.com/:

So you're a student.  You graduate in April.  You're drowning in student debt and unemployment in your age group is at a 30 year high.  You're healthy if you don't count that you breath smog all day and everything you consume from laundry detergent to lunch is full of chemicals.  You live on ramen noodles and no-name Kraft dinner to stay within your budget while our government racks up a record deficit.

You may become frustrated.  You may ask yourself, why do we talk more about pensions than education?  Why are they saying the recession is over when people my age can't find work?  Why does our health-care debate revolve around drug benefits and end of life care and not prevention and healthy living?  And why is my government so eager to mortgage my future for the comforts of today?

The answer to these questions is that you don't vote.  Or if you do, your friends don't or at least not enough of them.  When our politicians pander to demographics they pander to the demographics who will help them win.  That's not us.

In the last election only about 37% of eligible voters under 25 bothered to show up at the polls. Compare that to your grandparents at 68%, or your parents at 60%.

They vote, so they impact election results.  Politicians pay attention to them.  For the most part we get ignored and it's our fault.  We need to either start voting or start getting used to short end of the stick.

There was a flurry of activity leading up to the NHL Olympic break.  Massive deals saw Phaneuf coming to Toronto from Calgary and Toskala heading to Anaheim in exchange for Giguere. After failing to renegotiate his contract the Atlanta Thrashers dealt franchise player Ilya Kovalchuk to New Jersey.

However the team that made out the best was perhaps the Green Party of Canada who acquired veteran enforcer Georges Laraque from the Montreal Canadiens.  While the GPC has maintained record levels of youth and enthusiasm it has been clear that they have been suffering this season from a lack of size.

With Laraque now in the lineup the GPC is setting their sites on a long playoff run but team captain Elizabeth May was quick to point out that it will take Laraque a few games to become accustom to the systems employed by the Greens.

The Young Greens of Canada are looking for active Green Party of Canada members (there is still time to join the party) under 30 years of age who are looking for an opportunity to lead.  The Young Greens Council elections have started and candidates must submit their application by midnight next Sunday (February 21st, 2010).

All positions are up for grabs and the YGC is hoping that each of them is contested.  This is a critical moment in the young life of our youth wing as the last original councillor will not be seeking a 4th term leaving huge shoes to fill.

Mark MacKenzie is the GPO candidate in the Ottawa-West Nepean by-election.  I've known Mark for a while now as he's a prominent Green in the Ottawa area.  I like Mark's three election strategy he's taking in the riding.  There's this by-election, the next federal election and the 2011 provincial election in a short span of time.  Mark is planning on running in each of these and building off the canvassing efforts of the previous campaign.  Hopefully our results in OWN will show substantial growth over the next couple years.

Mark recently pointed out that polls (at least individual polls) can be pretty meaningless.  This also extends to seat projections that change based on microscopic variat