Gail Bates and the Oshawa Greens would like to wish everyone a Happy Canada Day!!!!
Lets Create Jobs in Canada!
There are so many ways the government could spend “bailout” money, and the creation of high speed rail lines is a big one. Thousands of jobs would be created through this one initiative, providing summer jobs for students, construction jobs, steel production jobs, train cars to be built, rail lines to be manufactured and the jobs to maintain and operate these lines. With this one initiative the government could pull Canada out of recession quickly and easily. We don’t want jobs that will employ a few hundred until the snow flies. A high speed rail system would employ thousands for generations.
Celebrate Canada Day at Lakeview Park
Oshawa has a new candidate for the Green Party, Gail Bates. Have a question, concern or idea you would like to share with her? Well come out July 1st and help Gail and the Oshawa Greens celebrate Canada Day at Lakeview Park. The booth will be running from noon until 5pm. Check out our tent, sit and chat for awhile, just make sure you say hello! Gail Bates looks forward to meeting everyone as we unite in celebration of this great country we call home.
Happy Canada Day Everyone!!!!!!!
Celebrating Durham Pride
Gail Bates and other members of the Oshawa Green Party were glad to attend the Durham Pride event held at Heydenshore Park and Pavilion in Whitby yesterday. Working alongside Green members from the Durham and Whitby-Oshawa ridings they helped man a table that brought attention to issues that residents of Oshawa are currently concerned about, predominately the impending vote on the incinerator. Gail Bates was happy to be able to meet voters of the LGBT community and to show her support that Oshawa remains a community that not only embraces diversity but also celebrates it.
Greens’ Five Point Plan for the GM Bailout
Now that we all own a failed automaker, we must make better decisions looking forward. Trying to push more cars into an over-saturated market will only compound GMs woes and make life harder for the other automakers. Instead, we need to begin transforming our transportation and manufacturing to something suited for a greener 21st century. The Green Party proposes a 5-point plan for best use of this new public asset.
- Phase out all standard auto manufacture; shift current auto production to cutting edge technology for the cars of the future.
- Create a government tender for all future fleet purchases to be electric, hybrid or alternate fuels to create guaranteed market demand.
- Re-tool idle plants for production of high-efficiency, hybrid or electric buses for growing public transit systems.
- Re-start TrentonWorks under GM ownership to build electric and high-speed rail cars and stimulate the Canadian steel industry with new rail lines.
- Re-assign idle auto plants for manufacture of solar panels and wind turbine generators to meet growing domestic and world demand.
Government fleets can jump-start demand for domestic hybrid and electric vehicles, which have a bright future in the global market. The new owners of Opel (GM Europe), Magna Corp., have announced they want to build and sell an electric car in Canada, so there is already private-sector interest in this direction.
The renewed interest (and funding) for high speed rail in the United States indicates a market for rolling stock which Canadians have already shown an ability to build. Smart Canadian governments will follow the American example and create high-speed rail in Canada, meaning more production jobs right here.
“CAW workers already staff VIA trains, so they can close the circle on jobs in rail, while stimulating the Canadian steel industry, by building the rails as well,” Elizabeth May noted. “Furthermore, support for sustainable technologies has already created 300,000 jobs in Germany, more than we face losing in the Canadian auto industry.”
In general, we should turn away from trying to re-start a stalled business model selling American cars people don’t want, and instead aim ourselves at meeting growing demand for cleaner, greener technology like wind, solar, and rail. The growing North American market for greener transportation can offset the weakness in the car market, which contributed to GMs fall, and protect the value of our reluctant investment.
Press Release, 21-May-2009
Elizabeth in Oshawa
Join Elizabeth May at the annual conference for the Ontario Society for Environmental Education, where she will speak on the topic of “Towards a Green and Healthy Future – It starts in School!”
Where: Faculty of Science, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa
When: May 9 from 11:30-12:30
Elizabeth’s speech is free for the public. Yet, the OSEE encourages members of the public to attend the full conference as a delegate. The conference is open to anyone interested in environmental education. For more information on the three day conference, program information and registration, please visit: www.osee.org. As an added bonus, Elizabeth’s book Global Warming for Dummies will be available for purchase at the event.
Get Your Eco On!
This year the Foundation for Building Sustainable Communities (FBSC) will be hosting a series of three events in Oshawa promoting an ecological based lifestyle. The three events are Earth Week, Earth Day and the Eco Festival.
Earth Week is being held at the Oshawa Centre from April 22 – 28. There will be eight vendors in attendance, a re-purposing competition and prize giveaways. On April 22nd, Earth Day, there will be many exciting things happening at the Legends Centre in the north end. Finally, on September 25th, the Eco Festival will be held at Parkwood Estates Oshawa Centre. You will have the opportunity to talk about local foods with local farmers, there will be films about and focusing on the environment, and of course, wine and cheese will be provided. If you have the time come to one or all of the events and join in the fun, but don’t take my word for it, visit fbsc.org for all the details!
Nomination Meeting Update
Tired of the same old games? Want to make a difference? Get involved and fight for change in your community by helping to choose the next candidate for the Green Party in Oshawa. As mentioned previously, our Nomination Meeting will be held on June 24, 2009. Everyone is welcome, but only members can vote for the nominee of their choice. Not a member yet? You’d better hurry, because you only have until May 23th to get your membership in! Please contact Mike Pellegrino (mikepellegrino@rogers.com) as soon as you can and purchase a membership for only $20!
Due to changes in the Green Party’s Nomination Meeting procedures, if you would like to run for the nomination, all prospective nominees must submit an application to national office no later than April 24th. All information can be found in the Nomination Procedures document provided. Any questions may be directed to Robbin Taylor (robbin.taylor@greenparty.ca).
Nomination Meeting
As many of you are aware we lost our previous candidate, and dear friend Pat Gostlin, in a horrific car accident just before Halloween. As a political riding association we must secure another candidate to represent people who agree that now is the time for the Green Party. There will be a nomination meeting on June 24, 2009, where the new candidate is voted in by registered members. Official notice of this meeting will be given well before the meeting. Notice will be delivered by e-mail to all registered members, and any additional information will be posted here. If anyone is interested in becoming our candidate they may contact me directly.
A taste of what we are looking for in a candidate includes excellent public speaking skills, knowledge of the Green Party platform, integrity, has time to dedicate to the task of campaigning and someone who is willing to work very hard. As well the prospective candidate should be striving towards a sustainable or green kind of lifestyle.
I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank all the supporters who helped fund Pat’s campaign, and to those who gave of their free time; it was our best campaign yet and we expect the next one to be even better. Thank you and I wish you health and happiness for the New Year.
AGM Agenda
Date: November 26, 2008
Time: 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Place: 1432 Birchcliffe Crt. Oshawa, ON L1J 7Z7
For our upcoming AGM (Annual General Meeting) please note there are positions available within the Executive Council. The only prerequisite is that you have been a member for six months. In the event that no one is voted in during the AGM, the other Chair persons can appoint someone to a vacant Chair, who they feel is suitable.
7:00 PM – Registration
- Refreshments – Pot Luck
- Meet and Greet
7:45 PM – Call to Order
- Welcome
- Appoint Chair
- Appoint Recorder – Virginia Ervin
- Record Attendance
- Approve the Agenda
7:55 PM – Annual Report from outgoing CEO and Financial Agent
- CEO to overview accomplishments of the EDA
- FA to give Financial Report
- Campaign Mgr to give overview of the Campaign
8:10 PM – Voting in the Executive Council
- CEO – up for election (currently Robbin Taylor)
- FA – not up for election, becoming vacant (currently Andrew Vokes)
- Administrative Chair – not up for election, vacant (was Pat Gostlin)
- Membership Chair – not up for election, becoming vacant (currently Christopher Lancaster)
- Fundraising Chair – up for election (currently Joan McKnight)
- Organizing Chair – up for election (currently Liisa Whalley)
- Communications Chair – not up for election – vacant
- Youth Coordinator – New *
8:25 PM – Review of Constitution and Bylaws
- Approve the Constitution and Bylaw amendments for the EDA: None to approve.
8:30 PM – Discussion of Annual Plan, Budget and Goals
- Discuss and provide feedback to the EDA Executive Counil members to help them form the annual plan, budget and goals for upcoming year. Feedback will be sought to help set fundraising, election readiness, and membership development goals.
9:00 PM – Meeting Adjourned
- Announcement of the next meeting of the EDA Executive Council
