Dear Friend,
December 30 and I am experiencing déjà vu. Didn’t I feel just this way one year ago? “Thank goodness this awful year is over! 2021 will be so much better!” NOT.
Not for family members wanting reunions. COVID still stalks our gatherings. Not for Canadians wanting parliamentarians to work, not waste time in an opportunistic snap election (at least that gambit for a Liberal majority failed). Not for British Columbians living through unprecedented heat domes, wildfires, floods and mudslides, nor Prairie farmers coping with killer droughts, nor so many people dealing with so much climate grief. And to cap it off, Glasgow COP26 did not deliver the climate action we need.
I am not sorry to see the end of 2021.
I am grateful that the party I love has already turned a corner from that very bad year. Thanks to leadership from a terrific new council and President Lorraine Rekmans, whose patience is astonishing, and to a gifted and brilliant Interim Leader Amita Kuttner, we are back to being grounded in our values.
The six core Green Values guide Greens around the world. In over 80 countries, the Green Party is more than a political force; Greens are a movement. Our voices, our ideas and principles make a far bigger impact than is generally recognized. We are the ones who advance ideas too risky for other parties to mention. In Canada, we were the first to call for equal marriage, cannabis legalization, medical assistance in dying, carbon pricing – now these policies have come into being. We were the first to call for reforming our appalling electoral system and for guaranteed livable income – and now many do. We are the only ones saying what needs to be said about the climate emergency, that we must rapidly exit dependence on fossil
fuels.
Greens must rebuild to move Canada from climate laggard to leader. We can still make that critical difference to hold to 1.5 degrees C.
I know your in-box is inundated with appeals for funds. Please donate to your provincial and local Greens as well. Ontario has an election this spring. Let’s send Mike Schreiner some reinforcements!
Equally, the health and financial strength of Federal Greens matter across the country. Before midnight tomorrow, please make as large a donation as you can manage to the Green Party of Canada.
The media reports every party’s fundraising numbers. Let’s give them some positive news about Greens! Through our generosity, let’s show that we believe in values of grassroots democracy, respect for diversity, peace and non-violence, ecological wisdom, human rights and social justice.
At our best, Greens are powered by love – for our planet, for all living creatures and – when we can manage it – each other!
Time for more loving kindness.
Best wishes to each and every one of you for a truly Happy New Year! In the next 24 hours, you can help make it so!
Love and thanks,
Elizabeth May, O.C., M.P.
Saanich-Gulf Islands
Parliamentary Leader for Green Party of Canada Caucus