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 Dear Friend, Working in Parliament, through the dreary and predictable partisan debates, I often think of American journalist H.L. Mencken's keen observation: "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong." Conservative sloganeering further dumbs down the "simple common sense solution" to no more than three lines that have to rhyme. "Axe the Tax! Crime's up! Time's Up! Jail not Bail!" and so it goes. The Green Party will never embrace simplistic rhyming idiocy. I fervently believe that Canadian voters are far more thoughtful than the spin doctors in the other parties assume. The recent campaigns waged by British Columbia and New Brunswick Greens have encouraged me in that belief. BC Green leader Sonia Furstenau and NB Green leader David Coon were clearly the grown-ups on the debate stage. The Green platforms were evidence-based and serious. Both of our provincial cousins faced the punishing headwinds of polarized politics. They both had to push through calls for so-called "strategic" voting. Greens have more than survived. Sonia Furstenau is in a strong position to be decisive in forming the next British Columbia government, while David Coon leads the most effective opposition party in New Brunswick. Media in both provinces now speak of Greens as a "main party". We are rebuilding as a federal party. We are on track. We have great candidates stepping up and local teams getting organized. While we have no debt, we do not yet have the treasury to fund a full campaign. We will have a full slate — a candidate in every riding. We will have a full and inspiring platform, fully costed and credible. As we begin the home stretch to the end of this tax year, please consider the level of your investment in a better world. We are the only party committed to acting as required to reduce the threat of runaway, irreversible climate change. We still have time — we have hope and we have solutions. But even the most optimistic of us knows that the 2025 election will be our last chance to make the transformative changes desperately needed. Canada has some of the fairest campaign financing rules in the world. Only individual Canadian citizens can donate — and the level of personal donations is held to a maximum of $1,725 per year, nationally, as well as the same amount to a local electoral district association (EDA, what used to be called a riding association) or cumulatively to any number of EDAs. As we enter an election year, please consider how you can help build that hope chest for the upcoming campaign. Please think about how you can budget to give the maximum this year and next. Think about friends and family who might join you in the work to protect our shared future. They may not have ever supported Greens before. Help us reach more thoughtful Canadians. Pulling together, we can ensure Canada's communities are secure, sustainable, and that our democracy thrives. We will never give up in the fight for our future. Please do whatever is in your means to help! No amount is too small to make a big difference!
Elizabeth Elizabeth May, O.C.
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