In the latest EKOS poll which came out earlier today the Green Party of Canada is sitting at 13.0% nationally. In BC 18.1% of those polled choose the GPC.

13 is a great number for us. 18 is an even better one. But the number that should stick out the most is who voters under 25 will be supporting. In that category the GPC is out in front with 28.5%.

Of course the margin of error is higher in BC and among those <25 than it is nationally but margins of error go both ways and regardless it tells us just how important young voters are to the Green Party.

Elizabeth May delivering a barn-burner of a speech Saturday morning. Photos by Camille Labchuk

The Green Party of Canada is energized and united behind our leader Elizabeth May. She received an unheard of level of approval from Green Party members who endorsed her leadership to the tune of 85%.

The peak of the convention for me was Elizabeth’s speech Saturday morning. When she finished, had someone handed me a clipboard and a voter list I would still be out canvassing. It seemed as if every few sentences the crowd erupted in a applause and often standing ovations.

Craig Cantin is currently the interim executive director of the Green Party of Canada. I have worked for Craig in the past and consider him a friend and mentor. He is great at what he does and had he decided to stay on as ED I think we would have done wonderfully. Unfortunately Craig does not wish to continue on as ED and (I assume) will return to his role as the manager of technical services for the GPC.

His successor has giant shoes to fill and the person in the position must have the political experience and leadership skills to get the job done. I have been mulling over who I though would make a great ED. I even thought of applying myself (I’m not at all qualified but I can work long hours for cheap).

In thinking of what I would like to see in our next ED I developed an informal list:

The best leadership team in Canadian politics. Photo by Camille Labchuk

Our deputy leaders did a great job bringing us through the Pledge for the Planet webathon.

Adriane’s political experience and fundraising expertise make her a huge asset to the party.

Georges was right when he said he speaks a differently than most political people and politicians. His ability to genuinely connect with Canadians will be a big boost in the next election.

Four Green women and four guys lucky to be in this photo.  (left to right) Rebecca Harrison-White, Nyssa McLeod, Sharon Labchuk and Julie Nolan.  Photo by Nyssa McLeod (but how is that possible, edit: Camille took this photo)

A theme throughout the weekend was the strong female leadership in the Green Party of Canada. From Elizabeth and Adriane to the dozens of women who got up to the mic in the plenary female leadership was constantly on display.

Don Drummond giving us his thoughts on Vision Green, photo by Michael Paskewitz thanks to Nyssa McLeod for tracking down the photo.

We are the top of the class. Don Drummond (former chief economist for TD bank and former deputy minister of finance) gave Vision Green a solid B+. We’re not on his honor role yet however he gave the other parties an F for lacking the courage to lay out their plan for Canada, to Canadians, in such detail.

He pointed out where we have done well and more importantly where we could tighten up our policies and improve. In true Green spirit we ate it up. Elizabeth May joked (kidding on the square) the next day that the cabinet was already working on getting an A.

Greens gather for a speech by GPC leader Elizabeth May. Photos by: Nyssa McLeod

This week I’m going to be blogging about what I feel are the top five highlights or takeaways from last weekend's thrilling BGM in downtown Toronto.

One of the great things about these meetings is that it brings Greens together from across the country. You meet so many new people or you finally meet in person those who you have known online for quite sometime.

I recently received an email from Mark MacKenzie (a prominent local Green who ran in the recent Ottawa-West Nepean by-election) that I think misrepresented what was accomplished at our last AGM.

Removing CA ratification was a step in the right direction. Giving the CA presidents the power to approve or block all changes made a General Meeting is absurd. No process is defined leaving it up to whoever receives the ratification email to make the decision. I’m not exaggerating there is no defined process for how CAs ratify General Meeting changes. Here are two examples of this process in Ottawa:

After consulting with a squirrel and an electric pencil sharpener, Ottawa-Vanier votes to ratify.

I’ve been avoiding going over the council race but I said that I would (and have been recently reminded that I said that I would) so I might as well get it over with.

First, before I get into things, I’m disappointed in the rather small number of people who are seeking a councilor-at-large position. Had I known that there were so few people running I would have likely thrown my hat in the ring. I’m not the only one who feels this way as I’ve heard similar sentiments from Greens in the Ottawa area. We have 7 choices for 5 positions.

Anyway there’s nothing we can do about that this time around. I might as well get into the options. I think I know who my first three choices will be, it’s the last two that I’m not really sure about. I’m not going to rank candidates but rather just let you know who I know I’ll be supporting, who I’m not sure about.

The ONDP has sent out a release calling Eco Fees a “fiasco”. It isn’t. It’s not perfect and their are some real issues to address, but its a baby step in the right direction towards taxing “bads” instead of income. A while back I differentiated the Green Party of Ontario stance on the HST from the ONDP and the PCs by putting forward the idea that we provide thoughtful opposition, I think this falls into the same category.