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We keep on growing. We have the momentum. And this 39th General Federal Election was no exception. We've had a steady increase in % and popular vote in the last 4 elections. This time we jumped from 6.1% to 8% of the popular vote.
Our vote total increased by 1667 votes or 50%, which was the biggest increase of any of the other Kingston candidates (except for Karl "Eric Walker" who was able to increase his vote by a whopping 200%, from 100 to 296).
Also, we managed to breach the 5000 vote threshold. In previous elections this would have put us over the 10% mark. But this time voter turnout was way up, to 68% in Kingston compared to 60% in 2004, and every candidate except the eventual winner, Peter Milliken, received the benefit of higher votes.
Our vote totals could have been even higher if it weren't for the role strategic and "fear" voting played. The Greens were polling as high as 7% nationally during the campaign and ended up with 4.5% nationally. There was definitely a pull back of support in the final days. Greens all across the country were subject to this wariness.
But relative to other Green candidates our candidate Eric Walton did really well. Our 8% result is almost double the national average. We can be proud of our efforts, we had the best candidate and our best campaign ever.
It's just outrageous that the BQ with 16% of the national vote
should get 51 seats in parliament while the Greens with 4.5% get none.
We must pressure all parties in parliament to seriously pursue electoral reform.
Thank You! Click here to read Eric Walton's thank you speech.
Click here to read about our many achievements in this election.
Click here to view the 2006 Election Main Page.
Scroll down to view other interesting highlights of the campaign as it unfolded, and a look back at previous campaigns.
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Our campaign headquarters at 326 Princess St. is now closed.
To drop off lawn signs or have them picked up please email or call Wilfred Sorensen at 542-4045.
Voice mail at 546-3907 will be operational until Sunday Jan 28th. After that date please
call 384-8504 with any inquiries you might have. Thanks!
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Fearless anti-Green crusader Murray Dobbin has struck again. At the height of the
last federal election, Dobbin published a biased and misleading article designed to
push uncommitted voters wavering between NDP and Green into the NDP fold. You can read
that article and the Green Party rebuttal by revisiting our Campaign Page -- Week 4 from the last election. This time, Dobbin has
published his piece in the BC online journal "The Tyee". Much of the material is rehashed from
his earlier piece with the exception of a few, new, egregious errors.
To read a rebuttal of the Dobbin article, click here.
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On Wednesday, Dec. 14th, at 9 PM, Green Party Leader Jim Harris appeared on the CBC's National
on CBC Newsworld and participated in a TV Town Hall, taking questions from the audience, phone-ins,
and the internet. Mr. Harris did an excellent job conveying the progressive, well-reasoned
policies for sustainability championed by the Green Party.
To read the full transcript of the town hall, click here.
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On Wednesday, Dec. 14th, at 1PM, Green Party Foreign Affairs Advocate
Eric Walton joined foreign affairs critics Alexa McDonough (NDP) and
Stockwell Day (Conservatives) and sitting foreign affairs minister Dan McTeague (Liberal)
on a radio phone-in panel discussion hosted by the Dave Rutherford Show. The Dave
Rutherford Show is broadcast in a number of cities across the country, including London, Ontario.
Eric raised many important issues during the course of the phone-in, including the current government's
shameful record in Haiti.
To listen to an archived recording (requires Windows Media Player) of the full broadcast click here
(apologies for the ads).
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Green Party of Canada leader Jim Harris was in town on Thursday, Dec. 8th. He attended a press conference at historic Fort Henry at 11:00AM with Kingston and the Islands candidate, and Green Party Advocate on Foreign Policy, Eric Walton. They discussed Green Party opposition to the current government's quiet push toward "Deep Integration" with the U.S..
For more information, read the full press release regarding the "Deep Integration" process here in the Green Light newsletter.
The Fort Henry press conference headlined in the election section of the Kingston Whig-Standard.
To read the full Whig article, click here.
Following the press conference at Fort Henry, Mr. Harris visited Sir Winston Churchill School at 1pm and spoke with students as part of their Student Vote, voter literacy program. The students
asked some tough questions and engaged in a lively discussion with the Green Party leader.
Despite tremendous public pressure, strong polling, a full slate of candidates in the 2004
federal election, and a projected full slate in the 2006 federal election, Green Party of
Canada leader Jim Harris is being excluded from the nationally-televised leaders’ debate.
The Green Party was not even offered the opportunity to meet face-to-face with the broadcast
consortium to state its case for inclusion.
To find out more, to sign the petition to have Jim Harris included, and to send a message of
your disapproval to the broadcast consortium, please visit the Green Party of Canada website.
--- Archived Campaign News Below ---
On the evening of Nov. 9th, 2004, The Kingston & The Islands Green Party Constituency Association nominated
Eric Walton as their candidate for the next federal election. With a minority government
in Ottawa, it is anyone's guess when another federal election might be called. The Kingston Greens
hope to be well prepared regardless of when the next campaign begins. For the first time ever,
the federal candidacy for Kingston was contested by three nominees: Prof. George Clark, Danny Gold, and
Eric Walton. All three men gave thoughtful, interesting speeches and took questions from the
Kingston Greens membership in attendance. In the end, it was Mr. Walton who garnered a majority of the vote
and he was declared the next federal candidate.
Eric Walton delivered a speech in the fall of 2004 to the Cornwall Greens, regarding Green Party foreign policy.
Mr. Walton is the Foreign Affairs Shadow Critic for the Green Party of Canada.
You can read here the transcript of the speech: Mutually Assured Sustainability.
Read more about the 2004 election as it unfolded...
Victory Party
Voting Day
CLICK HERE to see what happened in Week 4
CLICK HERE to see what happened in Week 3
CLICK HERE to see what happened in the first two weeks
CLICK HERE to learn more about the
2003 Provincial election effort and our exciting results!
You can join the debate about the issues important to you in our
Discussion Forum. Kingston Greens federal
candidate Eric Walton will occasionally post his thoughts and observations. Do you have a question for the candidate? Post it on the
discussion forum so everyone can read Eric's answer. Do you have a question for other
Green Party supporters? Start the debate!
Read below to find out more about what the Green Party is bringing to Canadian politics.
The three old political parties of this country, the Liberals, the Progressive Conservatives, and the NDP, operate with essentially the same industrial age
world-view; for each, the measure of success is still that hopelessly inaccurate measure of 'progress' -- the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP).
One party advocates a tax-cut here, another a social program there, but ultimately the
the political life in Canada is business as usual with large swathes of our tax
dollars being wasted on keeping the growing burden of our bureaucracy afloat.
And using such outdated ideas of economy and society, they muddle along
from crisis to crisis.
The Green party has a very different world-view. We approach issues with a long-term,
whole-systems perspective. We will measure our progress using the broadly reaching GPI (Genuine Progress Indicator).
We believe this new approach
is critical in this era of high consumption, technological power, and democratic deficits. We believe our
policies will begin the progressive renewal of eco-systems and reverse the steady erosion of
our quality of life. Our hope is for a
future that is truly democratic, humane, and sustainable. Click the links below to learn more.
Click here to find out more about Green Party policies and values.
Click here to read the Charter of the Global Greens in HTML format.
Click here to read the Charter of the Global Greens in PDF format.
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A green vote is a vote for the future.
The Green Party is a young and
vibrant political party, made up of dynamic and forward thinking people.
Our members are the future
of this great country. Professionals, labourers, office workers, academics,
students, and seniors, we are all working toward common goals. We want to ensure
a high standard of living for ourselves, for our children, and for many future generations
of citizens to come. We also want to ensure that the beautiful province and country
we call home gets the proper environmental stewardship
and ecological balance it deserves.
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