Save the World in Your Spare Time!

Went to listen to Elizabeth May speak yesterday. She's a lawyer, activist, recipient of many awards, including the International Conservation Award, United Nations Global 500 Award, 2002 Harkin Award from the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, and was named Officer of the Order of Canada in 2005. She's the former, I believe, Executive Director of The Sierra Club of Canada, because she is now running for leadership of the Green Party, and I don't think that you can't be on boards and stuff, b/c that's apparently against the rules. Oh, politics.

I must say that it was a great event hosted by Manitoba Wildlands. She is a very engaging speaker and I believe that she will be able to bring the Green Party to the next level of government (mainly, not just being on the radar, but stirring the pot! I'm rooting for her to be part of the next debate, because her style will defanitely throw off the other suites fishing for sound bites to say the least). Her strength is that she is extremely knowledgable in not just facts about the environment, but also poicy, as she has been at almost all of the major environmental conferences around the world. This first-hand experience enables her to connect to the public and to explain in plain language why "Someday is now!" and that "Global Security" means more than defeating terrorists.

I did finally put my money where my mouth is and bought a membership to the party. If you've ever voted Green or are thinking about supporting the party, I defanitely encourage it. And buy those memberships right away, because you have to be a member by the 29th of June to vote for the next leader (guess who has my vote!) All you have to do is go to Ms. May's page, and click on the big green button!

Right now I think the Greens have a long way to go, as they're still pretty unorganized. But I believe as they gather members and support, they will inevitably get all they're eggs in one basket and be able to make a run and getting some seats in parliment. To me, it seems they party is at a cross-roads, trying to show that it's more than a bunch of one-issue hippies. Of course, this is the same problem the liberals are having trying to convince the country that they're not all elitist, wealthy business people. So, I've decided to stick with the party and vote for Elizabeth May!