Some Good Things Going On With the Green Party

Well, I've found myself floundering in a sea of negativity lately, at least when it comes to blogging about my Party. It's true, some of what's been going on inside of our Party is really starting to eat me up, and it becomes difficult to see past the shenanigans. But there are some positive things happening with our Party, and as I seem to have found myself with a few minutes on my hands today (as my wife has taken the new baby out to the Valley to see great-gramma), I thought maybe I'd blog a bit about those positives before others in my Party start to think that I'm some kind of The-Sky-Is-Always-Falling downer sort of guy. I'm also very concerned that since I've recently taken swipes at both Elizabeth May and Sylvie Lemieux that I'm going to be branded as the resident social outcast at the Party's upcoming BGM. What can I say? I like making friends, but sometimes I don't play well with others.

I stumbled across this blogpost at Pundit's Guide earlier today, about a recently released report about federal political party fundraising. According to Alice, and based on figures released by the Party for the first and second quarters of 2010, our Party seems to be slightly ahead in terms of fundraising than where we were at this time last year. And that's no mean feat, as the Party had done a pretty good job of raising money throughout 2009, especially in Q4. Keep in mind that 2009 wasn't an election year, and it's always a little harder to pull things together in the year after an election.

Should things begin to settle down in our Party after the BGM, perhaps there's a chance of repeating our fundraising efforts. I know that Elizabeth May and Adriane Carr and others in the Party have been working very hard to raise the kind of coin we need to run a campaign which should see a number of Greens elected.

Some more good news: over in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, the local EDA will be holding their candidate nomination meeting on August 17th, right before the BGM. I understand that Elizabeth May and other Green heavy-weights will be in attendance. The nomination is being contested by what looks like two excellent potential candidates, Lynn Morgan and Emma Jane Hogbin. More information about these two Greens is available on the BGOS website. And that's great news for Greens in Grey-Bruce, and great news for all Greens throughout Canada. Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound has been one of our better performing ridings, with former candidate Dick Hibma finished second with 27% of the vote, after running a campaign reportedly costing just under $60,000 of the over $70,000 raised locally. In other words, this is a very serious riding for us; it's certainly one to keep watching.

And finally, here in Sudbury...well, technically just outside and all around Sudbury, Greens in the Nickel Belt riding now have a nominated candidate to carry our flag in the next election. Christine Guillot-Proulx will be the Nickel Belt candidate, and she's already been shaking things up in the sprawling Nickel Belt (which consists of some of Sudbury's outlying communities, along with smaller centres along Highway 17, all the way over to Sturgeon Falls). Christine received some excellent coverage in local media on the day she announced her candidacy. Here's an article from the Sudbury Star, "Young mother to carry Green colours in next federal election"; I also have heard from just about everyone watching the local CTV news affiliate here in Sudbury that Christine's TV interview (which played at both 6pm and 11:30) was inspiring! Way to go, Christine!

If you're going to be at the BGM in Toronto, both Christine Guillot-Proulx and Sudbury's nominated candidate, Fred Twilley, will be in attendance. Say hello to them, and wish them the best of success in running a Green campaign in the NDP-Liberal battleground of Sudbury/Nickelt Belt.

So there you go...it's certainly not all doom and gloom with me, and I don't really need to fill that prescription some have suggested that I consider taking.

Looking forward to seeing some of you at the BGM. Hope that a few of you might even consider sitting with me. I might need the reassurance.