Fill the Hill October 24, 2009

Members of the Oshawa Federal Green Party were happy to attend PowerShift Canada’s 2009 Conference in Ottawa, Ontario October 23 – 26th. PowerShift Canada was organized and held by youth activists across our great country.

A group attending one of the workshops.

On October 23-26, 2009, over 1000 young people from across the country  converged on Ottawa to take a message of bold, comprehensive and immediate federal climate action to Parliament Hill. Power Shift was two days of training, strategy and action and one mass lobby day to hold our elected officials accountable to for their part to solve the climate crisis, and to build a cohesive and effective youth climate movement. This was the largest-ever gathering of young people on the environment in the history of this country.

At Power Shift Canada, they delivered our message of change to our elected officials. Youth of all backgrounds came together to create a fresh, positive, and inspiring vision of the future, one focused on our potential to overcome the challenges of the 21st century, build a clean energy economy, create millions of green jobs, increase global equity, and revitalize our economy. Now is the time for action. Now is the time for boldness. We will accept nothing less from the people with whom we have entrusted our future: our elected officials, and most importantly, ourselves. 2009 will be a year history will remember.

On Monday October 26th meetings were arranged with local MP’s and Oshawa youth were happy to have Colin Carrie meet with them to discuss their issues and concerns about his governments stance on climate issues and their reluctance to pass Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act.

Meeting with Oshawa MP Colin Carrie

Lt. Justin Boyes

Gail Bates and the Oshawa Federal Green Party would like to extend their condolences to the family and friends of the latest soldier killed in Afghanistan, Lt. Justin Boyes.

Please join us this Saturday October 31st to honour Lt. Justin Boyes as he returns home down the Highway of Heros, we will be gathering on the Simcoe st. bridge.

Do you believe everything the conservative government tells you via newspapers and television, about our supposed economic recovery? Are we really in recovery mode? Have a look at these facts. Only the public sector is hiring and the provincial governments will soon reach their budget limits. The private sector is still cutting jobs. Unemployment is grossly under-reported: only those actively looking for jobs are counted. The people who have given up the search are not. Those who had full time employment and now have only part time jobs are not. The people who had good full time jobs with benefits and now are working full time for minimum wage and no benefits, are not counted either.
Wage growth has slowed to its lowest in years and, adjusted for inflation, is negative.
The stock market is not the economy, it doesn’t create jobs, increase wages, or contribute to the GNP. Stocks and bonds rise and fall due to the investment strategies of large fund managers. A rise in stock market indexes therefore is not an indication of recovery.
The Green Party gives Canadians the opportunity to move from an economy based on the unsustainable exploitation of our resources to a sustainable and resilient model based on conservation and renewable resources. The Green party believes in responsible budgeting, forward looking investing,and a concern for those among us who are least fortunate. These are the guiding principles of our economic plan. We support income splitting for families, lower payroll and income taxes, turning blue collar jobs into green collar jobs, higher taxes on polluting industries and no more grey-industry bail outs.

The Oshawa Federal Green Party Association would like to announce some exciting changes.

Due to the growing demand and interest in the Oshawa riding for the Green Party, our C.E.O, Robbin Taylor, has deemed it best to step down and allow someone who can donate more time to the needs of the association. Until our Annual General Meeting, being held on Janurary 16, 2010, our candidate, Gail Bates, has gladly stepped in to fill the immediate needs of the association as C.E.O. Assisting Gail Bates will be our current Financial Agent, Blaine Leal.

As well our address and phone number have changed, we can now be reached at :

Oshawa Federal Green Party Association
27-1300 King St. W
Suite # 281
Oshawa, Ontario L1H 8J4
289-240-2470

This new contact infromation will be active by Friday, October 09, 2009.

If you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact Gail Bates or Blaine Leal:
Gail Bates – C.E.O – gail.bates@greenparty.ca
Blaine Leal – Finacial Agent – blaine.leal@greenparty.ca

Our website be also be undergoing some major changes in the next couple months to better serve your needs. Keep checking back to see the amazing changes. As well check our events calender to keep updated on events related to the Oshawa Green Party. We will be holding a meeting for the EDA on October 21 for instance and all our welcome to attend and offer their suggestions or ideas.

Title: Executive Council Meeting
Location: 13 John St. W
Start Time: 7:30 pm
Date: 2009-10-21

What has happened to the participation of our population as volunteers? Are we truly so selfish that we cannot give a little time every week to helping others? Many give money to different groups and think that covers our obligations – not so. Time and an extra pair of hands are what are really needed. How did we get to this point? From personal experience I can say a lot has to do with children’s activities taking over. Also my husband’s commute went from forty-five minutes to two hours so he wasn’t available to help transport the children to their various activities. When I went back to work full time the overtime required also increased. The Green Party of Canada is committed to families and communities. One way to free up time so parents can participate in community activities is to allow income splitting at tax time. This could allow one partner to stay home with the children and work from home, volunteer or participate in community events. Another Green Party initiative is workplace childcare made appealing to the workplace through tax credits for those companies or groups of small business owners who provide on site childcare. This would give a parent more time with their children during the commute to and from work and employees are happier knowing they can check on their offspring from time to time. Families would be happier and more inclined to volunteer for a favoured charity or group. In case you think I am only advocating volunteerism to couples – not so. Parents who are active volunteers will pass this on to their children and children are encouraged to participate as well. For singles, volunteering can replace the bar scene on some occasions as more and more singles volunteer. What a great way to meet others with a common interest! There are many organizations who need volunteers, just pick one and call.