by Pieter Vorster | Oct 4, 2020 | News and Events, Newsletters
The North Island-Powell River (NIPR) Electoral District Association (EDA) Mark your calendars for November 14, 2-4 pm. The North Island-Powell River (NIPR) Electoral District Association (EDA) is holding our Annual General Meeting (AGM) to elect the Executive Committee for the next year. Due to the BC Provincial election being called by Premier Horgan, we are moving our AGM from Saturday, October 24 to Saturday, November 14, 2-4 p.m. This AGM will be a virtual (meaning a Zoom video call) meeting. But the good news about having it on Zoom is that people from all over the riding will be able to attend. We’re very excited about that, so we’ve decided to open up the Zoom call at 1:30 for those members who would like to meet other people from around the EDA – bring your tea or coffee and come visit with old friends and meet some new ones. This half-hour meet-and-greet will be hosted by Mark de Bruijn, our 2019 candidate. At 2 o’clock, we will start the business portion of the meeting (register here). The business meeting is restricted to members only as it involves voting. At 3 o’clock, we will go into a second Zoom meeting (register here) as there is a lot to talk about. For example, the Green Party of Canada has a new leader who is already running in a by-election in Toronto Centre. The BC Green Party also has a new leader and BC has had a snap election called. Register now for the AGM (members only) AND also register for the discussion session (members and non-members). As soon as you...
by Pieter Vorster | Sep 19, 2020 | News and Events
by Pat Carl I’m not one to pray. So, let’s call it hoping against hope. Yes, I’d been hoping against hope that Ruth Bader Ginsburg, that brave, brave Supreme Court Justice, might hang on until after the US presidential election. Even Bader Ginsburg thought she might be on the Court “for at least 5 more years,” as she said in August of 2018. But hope can be a dangerous thing, especially when it’s dashed on the rocks of reality. Then a person is apt to cry. I did. I admit I immediately worried about the probable aftermath of Bader Ginsburg’s death, what it will mean as the Republican Senators, who hold the majority in the upper House of Congress, move quickly to affirm whichever stalwart, backward-thinking conservative The Donald nominates for Bader Ginsburg’s vacated seat. The wrangling will be fierce, I fear, just another car-wreck-in-motion careening the Republic toward its agonizing, though no doubt lengthy death throes as Senate Democrats attempt to put off the push that Republicans and The Donald will orchestrate to move the Court further to the far, far right. But, between my worry about our southern neighbour, I also cried because a truly exceptional, brilliant, driven, generous feminist completed the final moment in herstory as she took leave of life. A year earlier, Bader Ginsburg said she wanted to be remembered “as someone who did the best she could, made things better for the less well-off and moved society along a democratic path.” She did that and more. She was born and matured at just the right time to muscle...
by Pieter Vorster | Sep 8, 2020 | News and Events
HAVE WE GOT AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU! Do you like to read? Do you enjoy research? Do you like writing? Do you want to improve as a writer? Are you able to offer suggestions to writers on how they may improve their skills? Are you detail orientated and can you edit for spelling, punctuation, grammar and sentence structure errors? Well, the North Island Powell River Electoral District Association (EDA) needs you. As part of the EDA’s strategic plan, a comprehensive communications initiative has emerged that combines staying in touch with members digitally (i.e. Facebook, tweets, Instagram, videos) and through traditional communication formats that include complete sentences and standard punctuation. 😊 No matter which format you prefer to use in receiving communication from the EDA, each requires background information that is carefully researched from reliable sources, as well as presented in an effective and efficient manner. That’s where you come in. The EDA wants to build an Asset Library, a source from which the communication group and the EDA can safely present the Green position on a variety of issues. Examples could include articles relating to the Green Core Principles; materials on different aspects of the 2019 Campaign Platform; a talking points memo about the Green position on the Guaranteed Liveable Income, for example. To be most effective, all of these should be linked to issues that impact the North Island Powell River Electoral District. The information in the Asset Library may be used in newspaper articles, letters to the editor, press releases, and the EDA’s newsletter and contact emails. The same information may provide accurate background for a Facebook...
by Pieter Vorster | Sep 7, 2020 | Member Submitted Articles, News and Events, Social Justice
Greens and unions go hand-in-hand by Tim Larsen Labour Day has been a statutory holiday in Canada since 1894. Originally the holiday was used by organized labour to celebrate the hard-fought rights achieved and to mark the future goals they were pursuing. Working class solidarity was celebrated with parades, games and speeches. Over the years the holiday has evolved into a day for family time and leisure activity. Opinion pieces appear this time of the year that recognize the importance of organized labour. The many rights enjoyed by today’s workforce were won over years of struggle, and often civil disobedience by organized labour. Despite hard-won gains, starting in the late 1970s, workers’ rights have been steadily eroded. The neoliberal agenda has been steadily advanced by the likes of the Koch brothers-funded Canadian Fraser Institute. Union power has been eroded over these years and many governments have introduced legislation to limit the rights of workers. In many cases, back-to-work legislation has been used as a bludgeon to further this erosion. Unions themselves, such as the Christian Labour Association of Canada, have eroded labour rights with their cozy relationship with employers. The Green Party of Canada stands with workers, despite the attempts of others to label us as a one issue - environmental - party. In fact, we have comprehensive policy covering all issues of concern including ones that support workers. In 2013, the Green Party was pressuring the then Stephen Harper government to respect bargaining rights. In 2018, Elizabeth May issued a statement regarding Labour Day:, “Unions and labour groups remain a vital force for the advancement of human and...
by Pieter Vorster | Aug 30, 2020 | News and Events, Newsletters
The North Island-Powell River (NIPR) Electoral District Association (EDA) Message from the (Acting) CEO, Jay Van Oostdam This is an interesting time to be organizing as a Green in North Island-Powell River. The Green Party of Canada (GPC) has a new Executive Director, a new Federal Green Council, and we are in the middle of a leadership race for a federal leader. Added to that, the provincial party is also electing a new leader. Our GPC EDA (Electoral District Association) executive team has been meeting regularly by Zoom. Our Communications Director and her team have been busy organizing Zoom events for the GPC Council election and leadership candidates, and now more Zoom events for the Federal leadership candidates. Your North Island-Powell River Executive are working to keep the Green Party relevant in our community during these challenging times. We will likely be having a virtual EDA AGM (Zoom) in late October and we are looking for more new members on the Executive. We need a new Membership Director, a Volunteer Director and a new CEO (Chief Executive Officer). If you are interested in any of these positions or just participating in the EDA Executive, please let me know and I would be happy to provide you with more information. (jvanoostdam@gmail.com, 250-650-5859). Jay Van OostdamActing CEO We need your help Last year, Mark de Bruijn’s campaign was so blessed by the many friends who gave what they could - whether that was small amounts or large amounts. The donations you gave us helped us run a campaign that got over 14% of the vote in our riding. That was almost...
by Pieter Vorster | Aug 30, 2020 | Featured Events, News and Events
This photo is from the August 8 protest held in Nanaimo on August 8. It was called by Extinction Rebellion Nanaimo. At the time there was a hunger strike going on in an effort to focus the BC NDP’s attention on citizen opposition to their continued logging of old-growth forests. In response to that hunger strike, Doug Routley, the BC NDP member for Nanaimo-North Cowichan, said, “…the province’s anticipated strategic review of old-growth forest management is coming by late summer or early fall, and will include “immediate actions.” Old-growth forest defenders in Campbell River call for B.C. forest minister’s resignation On August 12, there was a protest in Campbell River in front of BC NDP MLA Claire Trevena’s office. The Campbell River Mirror actually sent a reporter to cover it, which was wonderful. Again the trope about the Old Growth Strategic Review Panel report coming out in “late summer or early fall” was trotted out, this time by Forest Minister Doug Donaldson. Dozens participate in old-growth logging protest in Courtenay On August 20, more people gathered in Courtenay, in front of BC NDP MLA Ronna-Rae Leonard’s office. A couple of people even washed Ms. Leonard’s office window in an effort to help her see more clearly since she so obviously has not been heeding the increasing urgency felt by her constituents. Wildlife were represented , as were salmon. And, just in case Ms. Leonard still had trouble seeing through her now-clean office windows, this was the over-riding message. …and then there’s Fairy Creek in Port Renfrew by Mandy Vaughan If you follow the issue of old-growth logging in...
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