Hi everyone! Want to see Mike Schreiner participate in the Leaders Debate tomorrow night? Join the Waterloo Region Greens at the Campaign Office for a watching party!
Despite our best efforts, the unelected and unaccountable media consortium has continued with their decision to exclude the Greens from the televised Leaders Debates.
Even though we are silenced, we must stay strong. We will keep pushing to get our Green voices heard, in all the ways we can.
On Sunday, Mike Schreiner will ‘infiltrate the debate’ by hosting a viewing party and doing a live commentary of the televised Leaders Debate in his home riding of Guelph. The event will be livestreamed, so we hope you can all tune in to hear the real solutions Greens want to provide to the province.
Join us at the WR Greens campaign office, perhaps bring a snack to share, and we’ll watch the Facebook live stream.
One of the first events I attended as the Green Party of Ontario candidate for Kitchener–Conestoga was the InterCityRail Town Hall meeting on High Speed Rail, held Wednesday, 18 April 2018.
Kitchener–Conestoga rural residents are worried about the High Speed right-of-way cutting their farms in two, and since HSR cannot have at-grade crossings (because HSR is 200+ km/h speeds), farmers are concerned that they’ll have to detour tens of kilometres out of their way to access their farmlands — InterCityRail says only four grade-separated crossings are planned between Kitchener and London.
There would be only seven stops: Starting in Windsor, through Chatham, London, Kitchener, Guelph, Malton, and ending at Union Station in Toronto. None of the smaller communities such as St. Mary’s or Stratford would have service. Not even the large community of Brampton is slated for a High Speed Rail station. If the experience of expanding GO Train service around 2012 is anything to go by, VIA Rail will cut its service to those communities once High Speed Rail is established.
An alternative, High Performance Rail (HPR) has been proposed that would allow slightly slower trains (150-180 km/h) to run on the existing right-of-way and still have grade-level crossings, but the Minister of Transporation, Kathryn McGarry (Lib), has flat-out said the government will not consider anything in their EPA study except a new High Speed Rail corridor. And the Ontario Federation of Agriculture that represents the farmers directly affected by this have not been consulted, and do not have a voice in the decision making.
Other jurisdictions are jumping on the High Speed Rail bandwagon too. 570AM news reports that Waterloo is pushing for High Speed Rail with the intention of turning South-Western Ontario into one continuous city of 6 million people…
I was a fan of High Speed Rail until attending the Town Hall meeting, which was educational in informing me about High Performance Rail and the issues farmers face with HSR. The Green Party’s Vision Planet document says: “Prioritize low-cost high-performance rail in the short-term as the province plans long-term for higher-cost, high-speed rail projects.” But as the representative for Kitchener–Conestoga I will advocate that High Performance Rail should be the ultimate goal, the better to keep farms together, preserve farmland, protect wildlife, and provide better rail service to smaller communities.
Actually, it’s more than Kitchener–Conestoga residents who are concerned, also Oxford and Perth–Wellington residents are affected, and more. Hopefully we’ll have Green Party Members in those ridings soon!
The Liberals in previous years had a bad habit of having expensive dinners that cabinet ministers could attend. This is a problem as it means rich people have more access to the government then people with little or no disposable income. This can be a problem in a democracy.
In democracy, money shouldn’t outweigh citizens.
Mike Schreinerled the charge to reform political fundraising laws in order to stop this ‘pay for access’. During the process he also got corporation and union donations to political entities banned, brought down the donation limits (although the new limits are still higher than most people can afford).
Candidates, MPPs, cabinet ministers can no longer attend fundraising dinners. People do not have to pay to access Ontario politicians.
Elections Ontario has handy guidebooks for Political Parties, Candidates and their CFOs on their website. They are in easy to understand language, spell out clearly what are fundraising events and restrictions on who can attend these events. Donation limits are easily found out as well. The limit is $1222 for 2018. This amount can be donated to:
a Party, and
to a constituency association
and to a campaign.
You can donate $1222 in total to election campaigns. This can be donated to one campaign or spread out over several campaigns. The maximum you can donate in total is $3,666 in total.
Earth Day with David Suzuki
Election Finance laws are mildly frustrating for someone in the position of CFO or as a fundraising director. Having to say, “Sorry, you can’t donate that much, as much as I would like to accept it” or “no we can’t charge admission to this event” is hard to do. That is why the recent Earth Day rally in Guelph with David Suzuki, Sarah Harmer, Elizabeth May and Mike Schreiner was free. Anyone could attend the event. We did ask for donations at the event, which is allowed, but a donation was not required for attendance.
However, the frustration is worth it to make democracy stronger. Everyone should have access to the people running for office and in office without having to pay for the privilege. The representatives elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario are there to represent us, the people in the province. Right now, we are having an election, essentially one big job interview for candidates. We all should have access to them, no matter how much money we have, because the candidates who are elected are supposed to represent us at Queen’s Park.
When people running for office break Election Finance laws, I wonder what they do they really think about democracy? What other laws will they break to get or retain power?
The laws governing election spending limits and ‘pay for access’ are there to help make our elections fair and democratic.
Large election events don’t just happen. They are never planned in isolation. Candidates (and especially leaders of parties) never just show up. Ignorance of the law is no excuse and is never an excuse.
Election laws are there to protect you, the people of Ontario.
The event was a series of round tables connecting people with candidates, interspersed with 3-5 minute talks by candidates and representatives from the local culture scene. The speaking order was determined by drawing names out of a bowl, and as it happened, our Green Candidates dominated the beginning of the evening.
Waterloo Candidate Zdravko Gunjevic started the evening off with a look at the importance of Public Libraries in our shared culture (if you listen closely you’ll hear an Ontario Cabinet Minister heckle him)
Next up, Kitchener-Conestoga Candidate Bob Jonkman considers the impact of culture on our most vulnerable citizens
And finally, Kitchener Centre Candidate Stacey Danckert spoke about the importance of public support for the creators who make our culture
WRGreens were honoured to be included in this valuable event.
The Waterloo Region Greens are ready to make history by sending some Green MPPs to Queen’s Park!
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Drop by 6 Duke Street East, Kitchener to pick up a sign, or to volunteer, donate, or just say “hi”!
Special thanks to Tori, who created a fabulous banner, and thanks to the sign crew– Greg, Mark, James, Elliot– who did an excellent job hanging it today!
Check out Greg Durocher’s Ontario Chamber of Commerce interview with Michele Braniff, the Green Party Candidate for Cambridge. This is part of the Chamber’s 2018 Ontario Election coverage of Cambridge and Kitchener South—Hespeler.
The marker shows points to the 2018 WRGreens Campaign Office in the Duke Street Food Block. Original Interactive map is available at Open Street Map
This year’s WRGreens Campaign Office is located downtown at 6 Duke Street East, Kitchener, ON N2H 2G9. We will be having an Office Opening Party here Sunday night, when parking is free and relatively easy.
But generally the parking situation is much more complicated than it was at our 2015 Office in Waterloo.
The Ion came calling on Saturday!
Since the office is shared by all 5 WRGreens campaigns, we’ll have visitors and volunteers from across the region. This post is intended to identify the issues to help those arriving by car steer clear of parking tickets.
LRT
Even though the system isn’t up and running yet, the ION is being tested throughout the city, and the LRT Track runs right in front of our new office. Last week Zdravko mentioned he hoped we’d get an opportunity to see an LRT train come by. As exciting as that may be, in practical terms it means the loss of about five parking spaces in front of the Duke Food Block.
All vehicles except the ION itself are prohibited from driving or even stopping on the LRT tracks. There are huge fines if you do, and we’d rather not see that happen. If you need to unload, you can always stop in the roadway on the other side of the LRT track, put on your hazzard lights, and unload quickly. If you’re on your way within 10 minutes or so it shouldn’t be a problem, although it may annoy traffic behind you. If you proceed past the office and go around the corner, turning right on Queen Street you can park in the loading zone.
Parking Regulations
Kitchener has complicated parking rules, and we don’t want our volunteers and visitors to get ticketed.
RED ZONE
Street parking is allowed in the area marked within the red streets allowed for 2 hours. After which there is no parking in the zone again for 5 hours. You can either find a space outside the zone, or park in a pay lot or parking meter.
Outside the 2 hour Red Zone, the the City of Kitchener default is 3 hour street parking from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. year round. Outside of winter (April 1st through November 30th). the City of Kitchener allows overnight parking on any city street from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. UNLESS this conflicts with other posted parking regulations.
NO PARKING
on, or over any sidewalk
paved or grass covered city boulevards, including the bit between the sidewalk and the street
facing the wrong direction
on private property without the owner’s permission
within 3 metres of a fire hydrant
in a designated fire route
in a space designated for disabled people (unless a valid MRO permit is clearly displayed on the dashboard)
if your vehicle’s license plate is expired
Trucks exceeding 4,600 kg weight
“If your vehicle is found in violation of any of our parking bylaws, you may be issued a ticket and your vehicle may be towed at your own expense. Parking violation fines can range from $15 to $300.”
The campaign is officially underway and there has been a flurry of activity already! Green signs are popping up all over the city, we’ve knocked on hundreds of doors, and a visit from our provincial leader, Mike Schreiner, helped kick off our campaign this past wednesday.
The WRGreens sign is up!
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Hi Green supporters,
The campaign is officially underway and there has been a flurry of activity already! Green signs are popping up all over the city, we’ve knocked on hundreds of doors, and a visit from our provincial leader, Mike Schreiner, helped kick off our campaign this past wednesday.