Good Sunday Morning,


Fighter Jets and Peacekeeping

On Monday Elizabeth hosted the Honourable John McKay, Liberal MP for Scarborough-Guildwood and Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister of National Defence during a Town Hall in Sidney. Christa Grace-Warrick, the publisher of Island Tides was there and as always, offers comprehensive coverage in her latest edition online. Although there were many interesting presentations perhaps the most significant takeaway was that according to John McKay this was the strongest representation for peace keeping that he has been exposed to so far in this process. I was particularly impressed with the clear logic of William Geimer, who plays an advisory role to Elizabeth and gave a compelling presentation for a bold new approach to rebuilding Canada's role as a peacekeeper on the world stage.

Oil glut and pipelines

Meanwhile there was more news that the age of oil is ending. Thanks Ann for digging this up. "We also know that following its announcement of its Vision 2030 strategy, Saudi Arabia remains firmly committed to maximising oil production, as it doesn’t want to risk being forced to leave its most valuable asset in the ground." "This is not a new strategy.  Saudi Arabia recognized some time ago that oil was losing market share to natural gas and renewables. Last December’s climate change conference in Paris reinforced this message, making it essential that the country moved quickly to reduce its current dependence on oil revenues, and diversify its economy." Take a look at the long term prediction of oil prices from the industry. So who will clean up the mess in Fort Mac when they go bust?


You've got to be kidding

And still there are those in our bureaucracy who are so entrenched with fossilized thinking that they are prepared to approve Corexit, a chemical for ocean oil spills that promises to be more harmful than the oil itself. "John Davis, director of Clean Ocean Action Committee (a Nova Scotia consortium of fishers and fish plant operators), called the regulations allowing the dispersant’s use “a massive threat to fishing industry” and another example of the power of oil and gas lobbyists in Ottawa." Oh those lobbyists. Guess they're not taking the summer off. And in case you doubt that they are still lobbying the same old crew in the civil service take a look at this two year old article dug up by one of the Green Media hounds in Barrie.


The legacy of false majorities

So we continue to face the consequences of the policy and ideological swings of false majorities. As we stare in horror at the events unfolding south of the border we must not forget that to repair the damage of our very own ideologue is a herculean task that requires more than casting a ballot. It calls for a relentless determination to push back the momentum, fueled by industry lobbyists and entrenched allegiances, and set a new course. 

Elizabeth is determined to do all she can to help Canada set that new course. And we can help. In the short term we need to engage, as many of you are already doing, and provide ministers with hard information on how to fix what Harper broke. Twitter is the modern tool but writing letters to the editor still works as does writing letters or emails to ministers. For the long term we need to support this government's commitment to Real Change when it comes to Electoral Reform. This week is our chance to do just that.


A big week for Canada

From Monday to Thursday there will be seven televised meetings of the Special Committee on Electoral Reform. You can follow the action on twitter by using this designated hashtag: #ERRE (it stands for Electoral Reform/réforme électorale) Twitter is being used as a major engagement tool with the committee, it is making a splash (both televised sessions were trending nationwide). This does matter. Your voice will be heard. We can shape the conversation and influence the public. Other organizations are on it as well. LeadNow and Fair Vote Canada are supporting this issue. But there is nothing like your personal engagement to help Elizabeth on this.

Even if you are not proficient on twitter you can participate:

- log into your twitter account (it's easy to create one even if just for this purpose)
- click on magnifying glass in upper right hand corner and search for #‎gmg4c
or click here: https://goo.gl/CthqDk
- select a tweet you like
- select the text of the tweet and copy to your clipboard
- click on the tweet button (in the upper right hand corner)
- paste the text into a new tweet
- Please be sure to REPLACE #gmg4c with #‎ERRE
- click Tweet and you're done!

And if you want to add a graphic for extra special impact you can download them from one of the other tweets or from our GPC toolbox and easily attach them. If you miss a proceeding, you can also catch up by coming to our Electoral Reform web page and catch Elizabeth giving her video blogs like she did during cop21. They are short and fun and personal.

Remember that twitter is a stream, not a billboard. So tweet away and don't be afraid of repetition.

Join the action at #gmg4c 
And if you are interested in participating in our Green Media Action team or sitting in on a tweetorial just let us know.


Have a fantastic week!
Thomas.