Toronto Centre – Planet Laurel

Newly elected Green Party of Canada leader Annamie Paul is running to win the Toronto Centre seat vacated by former Liberal Finance Minister Bill Morneau (amidst WE scandal ethics questions) . Annamie is both a brilliant candidate and an excellent choice to represent this, her home riding.

Photographer Sasha Zavarella is running in York Centre, where another Canadian National Party Leader — this time Peoples Party of Canada’s Maxime Bernier.

2020 York Centre GPC candidate Sasha Zavarella

Neither of these by-Elections will change the balance of power in Ottawa.

That means voters are free to vote for what they want — they don’t have to worry vote splitting will result in the party they fear winning majority power.

Since by-Elections historically have poor attendance at the best of times (and a pandemic is surely not one of those times!) fewer votes cast means these votes will have more weight. This is a brilliant opportunity for voters in these formerly safe seats whose votes never elect anyone to cast a vote that may be heard. Greens across Canada are rooting for Annamie, because the sooner our leader can take her seat in Parliament the better we’ll be able to hold the government to account.

It is important to remember the other big parties “whip” MP votes, which means their MPs represent their party first, because, if they don’t, they can lose party support which invariably means losing their seat. Whipped votes used to be a rarity, but in recent times they have become the default for NDP, Liberal and Conservative MPs.

Green MPs differ from other major party MPs because first and foremost they represent the constituents of their ridings. If there is a conflict between what is best for their riding or what’s best for the party, the best interest of their constiuents come first. Always.

If you live in either of these two ridings, your vote for Annamie or Sasha will mean something. We’ve seen what an impact Mike Schreiner has made as a single Green MPP. Electing another Liberal will just be more of the same old. But Greens will always make a difference.

And we can give our votes more power if we can convince our friends and families to vote too.

Even in our terribly unrepresentative voting system, voting is incredibly important. Even our vote is unlikely to change the outcome, it puts our choice on the record.

If you live in one of these ridings, please vote tomorrow. (And make sure to wear a mask when you do!) It is so important — and perhaps even more important:

VOTE FOR WHAT YOU WANT.

(Even if you don’t want what I want.)

If enough of us vote for what we want, we might just get it. And Annamie has an excellent chance of winning this one.

So get out and Vote!

An important Canadian by-election is underway in Toronto Centre. When Liberal finance minister Bill…

An important Canadian by-election is underway in Toronto Centre. When Liberal finance minister Bill Morneau resigned, he left the Liberal stronghold unrepresented. But the reality is this riding has not been very well represented for decades.

Because it has been a safe seat, high profile Liberals (like Mr Morneau) are routinely parachuted in. Because they lack strong community ties, they represent the Liberal Party in Parliament, but don’t do a very good job for most of the people who actually live in Toronto Centre. That’s why all important social issues have run rampant here, despite the powerful MPs who are supposed to represent it.

Annamie Paul just won the Green Party Leadership while beginning her campaign to represent the voters of Toronto Centre. Even if she didn’t have strong ties to this community, Annamie Paul would represent the citizens of Toronto Centre far better than any candidate from the other major parties because Green MPs represent their constituents first.

Mike Schreiner has demonstrated what a single Green MPP can accomplish with a majority PC government. Imagine what Annamie Paul could do for her constituents in a minority Parliament!

I don’t live in Toronto Centre, although I worked there decades ago. It’s where I had my first experience of homeless people. Despite all the powerful MPs Toronto Centre has had since, not only has that problem grown, it’s spread nation wide without any end in sight. Only the Green Party has effective policies to address poverty and homelessness.

I am so impressed with Annamie I want to help. But though I don’t live there, I can lend my grass root support to her campaign by volunteering to make phone calls.

And you can, too. See what you can do to help elect this amazing woman. We need MPs like Annamie in the House of Commons if we are ever going to get our governments to make the changes that need to be made.

That’s why I’ll be making phone calls for Annamie this week. I hope you can help Annamie on some way too.

BE DARING! GO GREEN!

https://www.annamiepaul.ca/

Annamie Paul | Leader of the Green Party

'Volunteer to help elect Annamie Paul in Toronto Centre' over a photo of Annamie Paul campaigning in front of a"Be Daring" campaign sign

Elections Canada Electoral Map of Toronto Centre

Congratulations to Annamie Paul, new leader of the Green Party of Canada over a photo of Annamie campaiging in Toronto Centre during the 2019 election.

A masked Annamie safely "Mainstreeting" (talking to voters on the street) during the 2020 by-election

Annamie and a crew of sign waving volunteers pose for a photo which I have titled: be daring! Go green!

New GPC Leader Annamie Paul’s press conference on why Greens will not support the Throne…

New GPC Leader Annamie Paul’s press conference on why Greens will not support the Throne Speech.

Government failure to adequately address Long Term Care, properly provide for all Canadians with a UBI, and jeopardizing the future by failing to address climate change.

Thank you, Annamie.

A sunflower is the emblem of the Green Party of Canada. After spending most of my life as a…

A sunflower is the emblem of the Green Party of Canada. After spending most of my life as a nonpartisan voter, voting always for the candidate who would best represent me, regardless of party, I became a member of the Green Party of Canada in 2015 when my husband was asked to be a candidate.

Working for his campaign, I learned enough about Green Party policy to not only remain a Green after the election, but to throw myself into working hard to help build the Green Party between elections.

Because the fact is, Canada is facing many problems, but instead of fixing them, the best Canadian governments manage is promises and the occasional bandaid. So problems get worse. We have too many problems to keep kicking them down the road for our kids and grandkids. Which is why kids are leading #FridaysForFuture.

The Green Party has answers, and most important, the political will to make those answers work. Green politicians aren’t career politicians, they are smart people who know things need to be fixed and are tired of waiting for the others to make it happen. Individual action is important, but we need the power of government to make systemic changes.

We can try to ignore politics, but politics impact on all of our lives. The time has come to get involved.

As we enter the 2nd wave of #COVID19, if Green Party policies resonate with you… policies like Guaranteed Livable Income (a #CERB for all where no one falls through the cracks), Universal Pharmacare, Healthcare, Post Secondary Education, a National Housing Strategy, and Climate Action built on science not propping up the fossil fuel industry, it’s time to start thinking green.

The Green Party of Canada just elected a brilliant capable leader. We need to help Annamie Paul take a seat in the House of Commons. And what better way to do that than help her win the Toronto Centre seat just vacated by scandal ridden Liberal Bill Morneau.

If you’re a Canadian it doesn’t matter where you live, you can donate and volunteer. The time has come to be daring.

https://www.annamiepaul.ca/