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In case you didn't know, the Green Party of Canada( @CanadianGreens) is having a leadership race. I want to take this opportunity to formally endorse @AmitaKuttner and @MeryamHd2020 . Both of whom I think are excellent candidates. Here's a thread as to why:
I have not been a Green party member for all that long. I joined in early 2019 after months of building anxiety surrounding the UN IPCC report and the utter lack of cohesive or consistent plans from other parties.
As someone decidedly to the left, I could not forgive the NDPs waffling on LNG after the initial RCMP raids on Wet'suwet'en territory in early 2019 or their fracking policy. The MB NDP has also done irreparable harm to their image closer to home for me.
Despite compromising on several other issues, reducing emissions and avoiding ecological collapse was my top priority and concern in getting involved with the party. I grew up living with horrible air pollution and soil contamination and the global alarm bells were/are ringing.
Shortly after joining, someone reached out and asked if I would consider running as a candidate. I initially flat out said no. I eventually broke down, had a meeting, was assured I could run my own campaign on my own terms and finally agreed to run.
I don't discuss much of my involvement or previous candidacy with the Greens for a few different reasons. For one, dealing with the federal party has been a cycle of frustration and disappointment. However, I have nothing but gratitude for those who helped and supported me.
There are problems I imagine that every political party has and the GPC are no exception. The overall "whiteness" of the party was evident and would be a persistent problem for me, tone deaf messaging, many Churchill references and the prevalence of a certain kind of supporter.
The GPC make the claim of being a science based party, for the most part that's true. The party as a whole though must root out and reject or at the very least correct the cohort of supporters (and candidates) who embrace a particular brand of David Wolfe-esque pseudo science.
The problem with with these folks is that they skew overwhelmingly white, middle aged and disengaged from most topics on social and racial injustice. Ie. An acute focus on recycling and not the intersection of human rights abuse and environmental degradation related to capitalism
In my experience these are the same type of folks who make statements like "I don't see race." or "I could support the protests, but not the riots." It's a brand of superficial faux progressive that was captured oh so horrifically with: Not left, not right, forward together.
What is my point? Race and the environment are not mutually exclusive issues. They are inextricably connected. Environmental racism being 1 insidious and oft neglected intersectional discussion due to the fear of delving into racial issues and alienating white environmentalists.
Weak points in the Green platform have been around Indigenous issues, acknowledging racial disparities, confronting the historical wrongs of imperialism and colonialism. In Amita and Meryam you have two people who have placed these issues front and center.
In my own experience they are exactly what the party needs. The fact that they are both engaging, intelligent, authentic, credible, sincere, strong, successful young progressive POC candidates makes them the only choices I truthfully see moving the party forward.
So follow them @MeryamHd2020 and @AmitaKuttner and view their platforms: