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.

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.

The Green Party of Ontario's annual general meeting wrapped up yesterday.  We made a lot of progress on various fronts.

The constitution is now far more clear and concise and I would argue better protects the rights of our members and our grass-roots ideals.

I missed most of the policy discussions but much of what I saw passed was great.  I have no doubt that the best platform belongs to the GPO.  I wasn't able to attend any workshops other than the one Kevin and I were leading but from everything I've heard they were great.  The social networking workshop was, well attended, lively and a lot of fun.  Kevin and I plan to put together a guide covering the topics presented in the workshop (including those cut due to time constraints) and I'll let you know when it is available.

This morning a rather positive EKOS poll was released and it included an even more positive seat projection.  Now before the haters start (and let's face it haters gotta hate) up on how this is only one poll and that seat projections don't mean anything, blah, blah, Elizabeth May is powered by kitten tears, blah.  Yes I realize that and you know what?  I don't even think this polls is great news but rather news of great opportunity.

Now that we have officially entered drink-on-a-patio season it is time for an Ottawa Green Pub Night!

Come out and meet local Greens from the area, including some candidates and exec members. Also strategic communications advisor Ralph Benmergui is in town and will be attending.

These things are normally a blast. They are great way for those of use who have been around for awhile to just have some good social time without having to knock on doors or ask for money.

For those of you looking to get involved this is a great way to start! I hope to see all of you at the Royal Oak on Laurier at 8pm on Saturday, June 5th. For more information please email me, also if any local exec members could let their membership know about this event that would be great.

Mr. Mike (I call him this because it generally takes me somewhere between 4 and 7 attempts to spell Schreiner properly) has been doing regular video-blogs from Queen's Park discussing the major topics of question period and also letting us know what the Greens would have added to the debate. This is a great idea. Not only are we at Queen's Park and showing the media that we are serious but we have the leader of the GPO explaining nearly weekly why we need GPO MPPs and what they would be doing for voters.

It's this kind of stuff that I think will really help us not only increase our visibility but professionalize our image by 2011.

Sorry I seem to have forgotten that I'm a blogger.  Anyway I've been rather busy on some other web projects that have unfortunately taken away my writing time.

I meant to blog about this earlier, a little while back Mike Schreiner and co swung through Ottawa for the weekend and held a well attended policy forum at the University of Ottawa.  There were two rooms and two groups one focused on local food policy (I think, since I wasn't in that room) and the other focused on reforming the GPO constitution (that's where I was).

For those of you who would rather watch paint dry than here about party governance I will just say that the constitutional resolutions that came out of that and other meetings are very important and will allow the party to function more easily.  It really moves the constitutional ball down the field, I just didn't realize how far the ball had to go.

The annual general meeting for the Ottawa Vanier Greens took place last night and I believe was a very successful turning point for a riding with tons of potential but that has been spinning it's wheels for years.

For some reason my benefits package at work covers everything except my eyes and teeth. I'm pretty sure that I have a absurd amount of drug coverage (that I never use) as well as disability coverage for a wide range of work place injuries that quite frankly are things I would worry about if I worked in a factory or in construction but that I'm not exactly concerned about happening at my desk.

Anyway I haven't been to a dentist in a while and since nothing is really bothering me with my teeth I have not been motivated to go see one. However two of my bottom front teeth are bumping into one another a bit and while I don't really think it's a problem I probably should go check it out.

So I called a dentist that's close to my office to see what their prices were and this is what I learned: Dental Care is run by the mob. It has to be. Their prices are ridiculous.

OK now I now that I'm one of the few GPO members that is also a big fan of MMA but I think there is an MMA issue that the GPO should vocally support.  We should call for MMA to be legalized in Ontario.

Quick background on this MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) is combat sport that blends various martial art styles (boxing, kick-boxing, Wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Judo, Sambo, etc.).  MMA is sanctioned in 40 states as well as various places in Canada (most notably Quebec and Alberta). While MMA is not for everyone and can look rather brutal, statistically it is far safer than both football or boxing (both are legal in Ontario).