I have to admit that when I saw the news of Elizabeth May’s behaviour this weekend, with reports of bullying from some former staffers, I wasn’t particularly surprised. Disappointed, yes, and worried about what it meant for the Green Party in general. But not really surprised. It took a bit of introspection on why I … Continue reading In the News This Weekend
By Gary Martens Our economy, any economy involves work and work requires energy. The human body is a very efficient machine in terms of work. A fuel efficient car might be able to travel 100 kilometres on 5 litres of fuel, but the human body only needs 0.8 litres of fuel (energy equivalents) to travel … Continue reading Energy: Sources and Uses
By Gary Martens We are beginning a series of articles focusing on “A Path to a New Energy Economy” where we want to introduce the issues around the proposed Energy East pipeline. This pipeline will pass very close to Isle de Chenes, Landmark and Ste. Anne. The series will conclude with a free public lecture … Continue reading A New Energy Economy
I'm back in Provencher from Calagry with a well exercised brain and a warmed heart. The second day of the SGM felt like an exercise in contrasts after Saturday's hard work. The meeting was far behind schedule because of the complexity of the work on Saturday which left workshops and most of the other policy … Continue reading Respect, Cooperation, Consensus
It has been an interesting day in Calgary, for this political conference newbie. The Palestine related issues were the primary focus of the day. This made a lot of sense as, in my opinion, it got the most complex and divisive tasks out of the way. We'll see if reality proves me wrong again tomorrow, … Continue reading Democracy in Action
Hello Provencher Friends, I'm in Calgary this weekend for the Green Party SGM (Special General Meeting). To make a long story short, this meeting came up as a result of the BGM this summer in Ottawa. A policy motion was passed on the topic of BDS - boycott, divest, sanction - movement. This movement has … Continue reading Hello Calgary
It is with great disappointment that I note that your party has decided to oppose the Liberal Carbon tax by portraying it as a tax grab. The government is saying this tax will be revenue neutral – that is it will not be an increased tax [tax grab] but a tax shift. There is nothing … Continue reading Carbon Pricing: You’ve Got it Wrong, Mr. Falk
From the start of the American presidential primaries last year there has been considerable talk of "establishment" candidates vs "outsiders" or "anti-establishment" candidates, talk that increased with every "establishment" Republican that dropped out of the race leaving Donald Trump as the presumptive Republican nominee. On the Democrat side, the "establishment" candidate Hillary Clinton won out … Continue reading The True Power of a President (and the real reason to fear a Trump presidency)
To the Honourable Navdeep Singh Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development, Thank you for your commitment to serve Canadians by helping our economy to grow and develop. In accordance with your ministerial mandate, I'd like to offer you some feedback about a much needed area of innovation and development: the pay sources of … Continue reading Innovation in an Information Economy: An Open Letter to Navdeep Bains
Yesterday marks the end of an era. In World War II the world came together, but in brutal opposition and violence. Since then, or for the last 70 or so years, we've been very deliberately coming together in peace and trade. The League of Nations became the United Nations, and provided a new forum for … Continue reading Brexit and the Resurrection of Nationalism
