{"id":401,"date":"2008-09-22T19:19:04","date_gmt":"2008-09-23T00:19:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/election08.cusjc.ca\/?p=401"},"modified":"2009-04-24T07:57:39","modified_gmt":"2009-04-24T12:57:39","slug":"be-the-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/?p=401","title":{"rendered":"Be the change"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kristen Cucan<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A handful of Green party supporters met in their local Ottawa riding last night donning green-coloured clothes and accessories, and hopeful that Canada might see its first green MP elected to Parliament.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In a small room at Saint Paul University, residents greeted their candidate for Ottawa Centre, Jen Hunter, and watched a screening of a new documentary produced by local environmentalist and former Green Party member, David Chernushenko.<\/span><\/p>\n

The film, entitled Be the Change<\/em><\/span>, featured interviews with Ottawa residents living their lives in environmentally friendly ways, such as cultivating gardens, regularly riding a bicycle or recycling household items. The screening was followed by an informal discussion on how ordinary Canadians and the government could also \u201cbe the change.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really committed to being a different kind of campaign, so you will see less paper and more people,\u201d Hunter told supporters.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hunter, 39, said she would be pleased if the other parties \u201csteal\u201d the Greens\u2019 environmental ideas.<\/span><\/p>\n

A core policy of the Green Party platform is its Green Tax Shift. The plan — similar to the Liberals\u2019 Green Shift, which was introduced after the Green policy — would tax carbon emissions and pollution and use that revenue to cut<\/strong><\/span> income and payroll taxes. <\/span><\/p>\n

The plan would add a $50 tax for every tonne of carbon emitted, which the party says is equivalent to an extra 12 cents a litre at the gas pump.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll decisions are not equal,\u201d Hunter said in an interview after the event. \u201cSome decisions cost more than others, and those should actually be paid for.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hunter acknowledged that her party\u2019s tax shift and the Liberals\u2019 tax plan are \u201cfundamentally very similar.\u201d But, she said, that\u2019s good for Canada.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRather than look at what is a difference, which is . . . typical adversarial politics, I think what is exciting is that this similarity is something to be embraced by Canada,\u201d she said. \u201cOur two parties are bringing forward something that could be very healthy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur party also represents a lot of different ideas. We are not the Liberal party,\u201d Hunter added. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hunter, who worked for the Liberal election campaign in 1993, joined the Green party more than two years ago, and is running as a candidate for the first time. She has spent most of her career as a professional facilitator for various organizations, and she is an executive member of the Ottawa chapter of Equal Voice, a group that promotes female involvement in politics. <\/span><\/p>\n

Aaron Caplan, who attended the event, said he is still undecided about whom<\/strong><\/span> he will vote for. But he said he believes the environment is a catalytic<\/span> issue in this election. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of interesting principles behind the Green party,\u201d said Caplan, a visiting fellow at the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University. \u201cIt\u2019s always a challenge in voting principles or voting strategically.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hunter said she is running as a candidate for the Green Party because its ideas represent the future, not more of the past.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFifty-seven per cent of Canadians believe it\u2019s time for Green MPs to be in Parliament. I know they mean me,\u201d she said with a chuckle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kristen Cucan is a fourth-year student in the Bachelor of Journalism program at the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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