Green Party Supports Safe Injection Site

The poster to the left is a mockup I did for the Badlands Drug Coalition, a local addiction awareness group on which I sit as a member. I had fun making this poster. We didn't go with it though because the photo is not free for public use.

There is a media release regarding the insite program that I helped write just before the convention. I'm bringing it up now because there have been a bunch of new stories on this program in the news lately. Click on the title of this post for the media release and see links below for recent news stories.

Here are a few links:
Mom of drug addict calls on Prime Minister to keep safe-injection site open
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/health/060830/x083035.html
Ottawa ethically obligated to treat addicts at safe-injection site: ethicist

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/health/060828/x082816.html
RCMP responds to media reports concerning safe-injection site reviews

http://tinyurl.com/ruyhx
RCMP oppose expanded injection sites

http://tinyurl.com/ql3cd

If you feel so inclined, you can send a letter asking to continue the program to Tony Clement, Minister of Health. His contact information is:
Clement.T@parl.gc.ca
1 866 375 8669
Tony Clement MP
202 Main Street West
Huntsville, Ontario
P1H 1X9

Also, the website, http://www.communityinsite.ca/ has a letter to Stephen
Harper that you can send from their webpage. It's at:
http://www.communityinsite.ca/support.html

The following link is to a site that has some great ideas on how to make
your voice heard on this subject and more:
http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0334.html

"We can't incarcerate the problem of addiction away."

We've Been Elected!

No, not elected to parliament ...not yet anyway... ;-)

This picture of Elizabeth & myself was taken at the afterparty at her beautiful and funky heritage house. She had a Celtic band performing, organic nachos to munch on and many, many friends and suporters there to celebrate her being elected as the new leader of the Green Party.

I have been elected to federal council as the Alberta Provincial Representative. The full council is as follows:

Melanie Ransom, Party Chair; Andrea Caufield, Administration Chair; Kathryn Holloway, Chief Agent; Christopher Ian Bennet, Communications Chair; Amélie Gingras, Francophone Secretary; Angela Reid, Fundraising Chair; Silvaine Zimmerman, International Secretary; Steve Kisby, Membership Chair; Doug Anderson, Organizing Chair; Becky Smit, Party Secretary; Jean Francois Pinel, Treasurer.

Provincial /Territorial Reps: Cameron Wigmore, Alberta; Ben West, British Columbia; Kate Storey, Manitoba; Erik Millett, New Brunswick; Fiona Roe, Newfoundland and Labrador; Thomas Trappenberg, Nova Scotia; William Gawor, Nunavut; Alexa Pitoulis, NWT; Lori Gadzala, Ontario; Jeremy Stiles, Prince Edward Island; Almaz Aladas, Quebec; Amber Jones, Saskatchewan; Gregory Heming, Yukon.

The new constitution was also voted in, and council will now be organizing according to it. Many policy resolutions were workshopped and will be mailed out to the membership across Canada for final vote. The conference was very well organized and fully covered by all of the major media.

More info on council & leadership candidates

I've provided for you some links to the many sites I am aware of that have further information about the Green Party leadership and council candidates. During the last federal election we urged Canadians to make an informed vote, and I believe this applies to Green Party members voting for candidates during internal elections as well. I strongly recommend visiting all of the sites listed below. I will not offer any suggestions on who to vote for as we all should be able to come to a descision through our own research.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments.

For information on the leadership race and candidates go to:

http://web.greenparty.ca/leadershiprace

For information on council contestants go to:

http://web.greenparty.ca/contestants

As Green Party members we can sign up for an account on the members site where there is currently a wealth of information on what's happening in the Green Party right now. Call the national office at: 1-866-868-3447 or email webadmin - at - greenparty.ca to request a user name/account on this site.

Answers to a survey for council members are at the link below. There are some informative answers from candidates regarding the proposed constitution we're voting on. This is a very important vote. I gave my answers to all questions a lot of thought and I'd love to hear some feedback on them.
http://greenlibrarian.atspace.com/

A number of council candidates:

http://councilfreshstart.ca/

More council candidates:

http://www.council2006.ca/

Some candidate websites and weblogs, most of whom have links to these also on their bios at the Green Party website.

http://www.messagemedium.blogspot.com/

http://ancienthippy.blogspot.com/

http://kevinsgreenpartyblog.blogharbor.com/

http://www3.sympatico.ca/newideas/GP/GP.htm

http://catjo.blogspot.com/

http://myspace.com/greenkateholloway

http://jeanfrancoispinel.blogspot.com/

Lastly, a forum where discussion with & about candidates is taking place:
http://www.greenerpolitics.com/

Provincial Leader's Endorsement for Cameron Wigmore

I'm proud to say that I have the support of Alberta's Provincial Leader!
Below is his letter of endorsement.


Cameron Wigmore for Alberta provincial Rep

I do not know how many of you are taking an active look at the Green Party of Canada federal council race but I beleive that Cameron Wigmore would be a really great Federal Council Rep for Alberta.

In the short while that Cameron has been with the Green Party he has run as a federal candidate. He has organized in his local community. In my recent tour through the province the second largest showing of people after Edmonton was organized by Cameron in Drumheller. I believe that if a person can build support outside an election they have the makings of a great organizer.

I have heard from people as far away as Victoria that Cameron has been one of the voices of reason on the federal list serves and that he has worked diligently to improve the party. We need people who can handle e-mail and list serves well if they are going to be on Federal Council. The fact that Cameron is already known for being a voice of reason on the list serves is a strong endorsement to me.

Cameron lives in Drumheller with his wife. He only works part time so he has alot of time to devote to the Green Party. He is living outside of the two major centers of Calgary and Edmonton and I beleive that if we are going to expand the Green Party in Alberta we have to start including people for other areas.

I hope that you will be willing to support Cameron in the vote for Alberta Council representative coming up.

Thank you

George Read
Leader, Green Party of Alberta
Campaign Manager Green Party of Canada

Council Elections: Running For AB Prov Rep

Running in the 2006 federal election as the Green Party candidate in the Crowfoot riding was very spiritually rewarding for me. Our support in this riding is building. As president of the Crowfoot Electoral District Association my objectives include active involvement with Green endeavors in my community, working to build support in this riding, sharing my passion for the Green Party with others and signing up new members. I've been following many subjects including agriculture, fossil fuels and renewable energy technologies very closely with the hope that I'll be able to assist us in moving towards a sustainable path.

Here in Drumheller I'm volunteering with the Badlands Drug Coalition, a group including AADAC (Alberta Alcohol & Drug Abuse Commission) and other community members working to improve addiction awareness. In addition to this and other volunteer work, I'm also busy in the community, on the phone and on the internet with fellow Greens in an effort to improve our party and it's support.

Now is an exciting time for the Green Party of Canada. We will be electing a new leader as well as our federal council members in late August at our convention in Ottawa. To be eligible to vote you must have purchased or renewed your membership between August 27, 2005 and June 27, 2006. This means that if you're not already a member, you have about two weeks to join so that you may vote for the next Green Party leader as well as your next federal council.

I am running for the federal council position of Provincial Representative of Alberta and I'm asking for your support. My vision for us includes improving public knowledge of the GPC, increasing memberships and cultivating communication and processes within the party.

This will be accomplished by:

• Staying active with newsworthy endeavors in our communities, placing advertisements and issuing media releases in local and national newspapers, distributing fliers, organizing meet & greet events and keeping the GPC in the media.

• Working to increase GPC membership through person to person efforts by creating a network of Greens who will actively canvass and recruit.

• Promoting policy development through multiple resources including the Living Platform and online forums, ensuring lines of communication exist for all members to voice their thoughts and opinions.

Federal council has monthly teleconference meetings, and by taking advantage of the opportunity to observe the last few meetings I've come to realize that this is a very important job; as a member of council I will be participating in the decision making required to conduct the business of the party.

If elected I know that as a member of council my knowledge and experience will be valuable.

The Green Party will see an increase in support as Canadians discover that we have simple solutions that will save money, improve our well-being, and can easily be applied by us all. The Greens will be the first choice of enough Canadians to make our platform a reality. In every election the Green Party of Canada has gained more support and the impact of Green policies has made a noticeable change in the recognition of environmental concerns. I see us playing an ever greater role in the decisions our government makes.

My vision has us existing to effect change in the way Canadians think and act. By improving media relations and increasing coverage we will ensure that every Canadian understands who we are, what we stand for and what we can do for our country. My vision for the Green Party of Canada is one of hope and faith. We can bring about the change we want to see by continuing to be a voice for our planet.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments.

Sincerely,

Cameron Wigmore

Council candidate, Alberta Provincial Representative

CEO, Crowfoot Electoral District Association

Crowfoot candidate, 2006 election

403-770-2962

You can become a member of the Green Party of Canada by going to http://www.greenparty.ca/page49.html~&.html.

For more information on our national convention and leadership race go to http://www.greenparty.ca/.

(note: this website is my personal weblog and the posts are on subjects relating to not only the upcoming GPC council elections but also various Green Party of Canada related topics and politics in general.)