Mark MacKenzie's Blog

Keep voting Green. It works.

Submitted by markmackenzie
on Wed, 10/05/2011 - 08:25

I received this email from a respected scholar and promoter of sane environmental and health policy.  The subject line was  “Make your vote count for the environment plus”

I am advising people who have a good electable incumbent NDP to work and vote for them but if not, I don't think its wise not to vote Liberal  (hold your nose if you must) or we run the risk of Hudak.

In this equation, as much as we may want to support them, a vote for the Greens is a wasted vote and may benefit the Conservatives - Just my advice, good luck to us all

and provided this response which I would like to share:

I certainly have learned a lot from you and your many years of experience in fighting for what is right for the environment and human health, but this is clearly a misguided set of recommendations.

What is lost in the commentary of this election is how the Green Energy and Green Economy Act came to be.  Everybody is attributing to the Liberals, but it was not included in their 2007 platform.  What WAS included in their 2007 platform was $26 billion dollar investment into nuclear.  How somebody with your pedigree could EVER recommend voting for a party that is STILL pro-nuclear is frustrating to say the least.  I know that this is a 'lesser of two evils' strategy but more on that in a moment.  

The Liberals sat down after the last election and planned out how they could possibly get a third majority.  They knew it would be a long shot, but you have to have a plan.

Meaningful Membership

Submitted by markmackenzie
on Wed, 08/17/2011 - 12:37

As the party begins to set the tone for development over the next four years, it will be critical that Elizabeth May, our lone MP for now, is supported with whatever resources are needed to maintain a strong front face to the party.

Success on any stated goals of building on this victory, however, will be highly contingent on bringing deeper meaning to the word membership.  Making this happen will be a critical role for Federal Council over the next four years.   If elected President, I would look forward to the challenge of including this as a priority.

I offer no criticism of how Council has been operating in the past.  The objective in the last few years was clear and transparent to the members of the party and the general public.  Get the Leader elected.  We opened up a permanent office in the riding and staffed that with several full time people.  I completely supported that effort.  But the objectives of the next four years will be infinitely more complicated to plan and achieve and, in my view, will require a different relationship between Federal Council, Staff and the membership.

Recently, the party has functioned in a way that I would characterize closer to an NGO.  You send money and then good people working at that organization lobby for you, and you get back to your busy life.  It is difficult to find an active local EDA (riding association) website that is updated regularly with items of interest to the voters in that riding.

Federal / Provincial Green Co-operation

Submitted by markmackenzie
on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 00:00

Green members are passionate about seeing public policy change for a more just and sustainable society.  When society has an obsession with more and more growth of material throughput, we feel strongly that this heading down the wrong path.   Public policy that shapes our life is just as critical, or moreso, at the provincial level as it is at the federal level.  

I believe that a key component to our next stage of development is to have good, regular and cooperative relations with the provincial Green Parties.  In Australia, The Greens maintain permanent offices that handle state elections, the state component of federal elections and local elections in a cooperative fashion out of the same office.  They don’t wait for elections to be active on the political front. There is a continuity and union of purpose towards sustainability.  Jurisdictional lines are to be respected but are more for the lawyers and political scientists.  The desire for change towards sustainability is the common thread amongst the three levels of government and the common thread for active members.

I started counting the times that provincial jurisdiction is mentioned in Vision Green and I stopped counting after 50.  We need to open the discussion with provincial parties on how deeper cooperation will be for mutual benefit of all concerned.
With so much for the party to do just to stay functional, I realize that it is potentially a monumental task to ask that the federal party look for some ways to

Des défis pour toute l'équipe

Submitted by markmackenzie
on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 00:00

Au cours des dernières semaines, j’ai eu de très bons entretiens avec plusieurs chefs et membres à travers le pays.  J’ai eu le plaisir de nombreuses rencontres personnelles en Nouvelle-Écosse, au Nouveau-Brunswick,  à l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard, au Québec ainsi qu’en Ontario.  Ceux que je n’ai pas eu le plaisir de rencontrer, j’espère rejoindre par téléphone dans les prochaines semaines.   Si vous êtes parmi ceux qui désirent s’investir dans la bonne gouvernance de notre parti, je vous prie de rentrer en contact avec moi au 613.852.2371 ou, par courriel, à mark@markmackenzie.ca.

En tant que candidat à la présidence, il y a certaines choses qui motivent mon intérêt.  Une de celles-ci est la formation du Conseil en vue de l’élection de notre chef.  Bien que justifiée par le système majoritaire uninominal, il est maintenant temps de modifier notre approche afin de rapprocher le Conseil fédéral, les associations de comté et les membres.  L’atteinte des objectifs actuels en dépend.  Je veux que vous, les leaders et les membres, soyez tous impliqués car c’est votre engagement unifié qui fera notre force dans les prochaines années.
Une autre priorité est celle de la promotion de nos illustres candidats.  Non seulement l’image de notre parti doit-elle être réflétée par celle d’un  excellent chef qui exécute ses fonctions au-delà des attentes mais aussi celle des candidats à l’avenir prometteur.

Why I'm Running for President

Submitted by markmackenzie
on Fri, 07/22/2011 - 19:55

Dear Members,

I hope that you are sincerely enjoying the summer months.  Weather in Ottawa has been great, but certainly we wonder at times if it is ‘too good’.  Like many Greens and Canadian citizens alike, I too often feel like a pawn in a much bigger game where oil is king, we are its subjects, and the consequences of burning 95 million barrels a day are ignored for short term gain.  We want to see this oil dependence, and many other unsustainable and unjust aspects of our society eliminated.  We in the Green Party are at the cusp of being that force of change.  

But our governance in the party needs some development.  We are led internally by a highly competent group of staff, Federal Council, and Shadow Cabinet, topped off by a dynamic and highly respected Leader.  Elizabeth May’s constituents are the only ones in Canada who will truly be getting local representation.  I know that we can increase that number of privileged Canadians even before the next general election by gathering together our volunteer and financial resources again to elect excellent Green candidates in the right by-elections.

As a candidate I have been extremely proud to bring forth to the public what the grass roots, Shadow Cabinet and Leaders settled on for our platform.  As a party, we need to expend the same amount of thought and effort put into that platform towards capacity building and inclusive governance of the party.  

Do you feel that you have a basic understanding of how the party

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