I have once again accepted the nomination to run as the Green Party candidate in Perth-Wellington in the upcoming federal election slated for May 2. Woo-hoo!
Background: I have run for the party federally in the last three previous elections and my best showing so far was a fourth place finish in the 2008 election in which I got 3,884 votes (or 9 %). The Perth-Wellington Greens and I were the only candidate and/or party to increase the number of votes we received from the previous election in 2006. In fact, every time the Green Party has run in this riding, federally or provincially, we always increase the percentage of votes we got from the time before, starting with the federal election in 2000, when the late Eric Eberhardt got 2.75%. (He actually ran in Perth-Middlesex.) We are hoping to build on this momentum for the seventh straight time as more and more people are exposed to our message.
I think this time we are going to focus on a ‘grown-up’ and 21st century-style campaign. I don’t think elections should be about who has the most or the prettiest signs. I don’t think they should even be about who has the most money to spend on radio or newspaper ads or flyers in the mail. In this age of e-mail and the Internet, election campaigns can and should evolve beyond door knocking and lawn signs. I have a few old lawn signs from the last election if you really want one and promise to look after it, but I represent a party that is opposed to unnecessary pollution and waste, so I don’t really want to cover the countryside in plastic that ends up in farmers fields. An election should be about ideas and issues, it’s not a child’s birthday party with decorations, balloons and loot bags full of pins and fancy stickers.
That is partly where this blog comes in. My team and I will concentrate on engaging in meaningful discussions with constituents using e-mail, websites, this blog and social media. Facebook and Twitter are fun toys, most of the time, but I want to see if we can use them to get our message across instantly and cheaply. If they have been used to topple dictators in Egypt and Tunisia, maybe they can be used to invigorate our democracy here in Canada. We’ll see.
While broad, Green Party support is stronger with young people for whom the internet is now a way of life, but I also want to be accessible to people who make the effort to call me on the phone or come to all candidates meetings.
So what do I think the issues should be in this election? When I asked a friend of mine that question he said, “‘superprisons vs. rehabilitation/education, a future economy built around innovation and R&D, revitalizing the healthcare system to respond to the aging population, a focused green transportation initiative, planning for cities and their infrastructures, elimination of the inter-provincial trade barriers, an energy plan developed with a generational timeframe, restoring decorum in our parliamentary system, and a military budget built on a vision of Canada's role in the world.” I couldn’t agreed more or put it better.
What the issues end up being might be another story altogether. Stay tuned and please give me any and all input you can, I will respond as well and truthfully as I can and together we can find out whether it is possible to sensibly discuss issues and engage thoughtful citizens in their democratic process, at least at election time. Thanks for reading.
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