The Green Coup is Guelph led
Well, sort of. Guelph was the
place that Sylvie Lemieux, a former Lt. Colonel in the Canadian Forces and
accomplished civil engineer, launched her campaign to succeed Elizabeth May as
Green Party of Canada leader a few weeks ago.
The setting was the backyard of the home of
Bob Bell. Bell, the locally acclaimed candidate for the Green Party in the next
federal election, was hosting a barbecue get-together for local Greens. Lemieux
made her announcement as the clock winds down on an August 2 vote
by party members on constitutional changes that would stymie the requirement
for a leadership contest before the end of 2010. This is the fourth year of
May’s four year term as leader of the Green Party of Canada, but the near
constant spectre of a federal election, May has been advocating that now’s not
the time for a potentially divisive leadership contest.
“There are several people who will run for
leadership when there is a leadership race and by far the numbers of people who
want to run for leadership don’t want to have a leadership race before the next
election,” May told the Globe and Mail. “They don’t think it will be in the
best interests of the party.”
Lemieux, obviously, disagrees. ““This is
not about running against Elizabeth May,” Lemieux told the Globe. “This is about creating a better
option for Canadians by building the party into a true contender that's more
attuned to Canadians from coast to coast.”
At Saturday’s barbecue, Bell, our local man
in Green, was noncommittal, but believed that the party needed to look at their
leadership situation head on. “Elizabeth has been the leader for four years, so it’s time to ask the
question, and Sylvie is doing so,” Bell said. “There’s
been this possible impending election for a year and a half and I believe
that’s why our leadership issue has been pushed back.”
Still, it’s interesting that Lemieux would
choose Guelph to make her declaration of interest in heading the Green Party. Our
sorted little berg has long been considered a possible “breakthrough” riding
for the party, and in the past two elections (the 2007 Provincial and the 2008
Federal) the Green candidate finished third. As for that elusive next Federal election,
Lemieux says don’t worry because Prime Minister Stephen
Harper “has no incentive to get into an election before [2011].”
Real 2010
Election News
So it appears that my prediction that
things on the municipal ballot would be relatively quiet through to the end of
summer was a wee bit off with several new additions to the slate of candidates
in the last couple of weeks. First, veteran councillor Gloria Kovach became the
name on the first hat thrown into the ring for Ward 4 when she announced on
July 15. The same day Peter Bortolon joined the growing race for
Ward 1 and was joined one day later by Gary Walton. This brings the total of
candidates running in the Ward 1 race up to seven. Prior to that on July 8
Leanne Piper joined her fellow Ward 5 incumbent Lise Burcher on the ballot by
officially declaring her nomination. So far, Piper and Burcher are the only
candidates in Ward 5. For the full election ballot thus far, go to http://guelph.ca/vote
Movie Night in Goldie Mill Park
If your looking for something to do tonight
and you’re in a fight the power kind of mood, head over to Goldie Mill Park for a
screening of the documentary Lucio:
Anarchist, Forger, Bank robber. Bricklayer. It's about noted Spanish
anarchist Lucio Urtubia, a man who's quite literally a modern Robin Hood. The
film will start around 8:30
pm and the admission is by donation. Funds are
being raised for local protestors still detained by the police following
arrests made during the G20 in Toronto.
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