Monthly Archives: February 2008

Signs! Get 'em While They're Hot!

Uncategorized,

The campaign has now been in full swing for over a month and there is still over a month to go. Already, the wonderful team assembled here has managed to open up the first Green campaign office in Toronto-Centre, break all fundraising records for any Green campaign in the GTA and has distributed thousands of pieces of literature. The Green Party is here to stay in Toronto Centre! But not all is well in the communities that make up this riding for the Green Party…

Recent reports have indicated that there is a severe lack of lawn signs populating the riding. But wait! We have a solution. Today a magical truck arrived delivering both big and small lawn signs. Now all we need are some more places to help “green the snow.” (And no, you shouldn’t eat green snow either.) You can help with this plight.

By just clicking page here or by calling our office you too can have a shiny (well, they aren’t that shiny) new lawn sign. Contact us soon because supplies are nearly unlimited but they are going fast. (Note: if you've already ordered a sign, you'll receive it over the next few days. Also, the sign form results will only get to us if you live in the riding. If you live in another riding and fill out the form, the request will go to your home riding.)

A Senator, A Candidate, and A Blogger

endorsements, , , , ,

I’m proud to draw your attention to three more endorsements of my candidacy, in no particular order.

The first is from The Honourable and Very Reverend Dr. Lois Miriam Wilson, a former independent Senator (appointed by Prime Minister Chrétien), former Moderator of the United Church of Canada, and a Companion of the Order of Canada. Some of Lois’ other accomplishments include being a recipient of the Pearson Medal of Peace, a director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, and a member of Fair Vote Canada’s advisory board (something that you know is of particular interest to me). Lois writes, “I endorse Chris Tindal because he clearly articulates a sound political platform and demonstrates political leadership of a fresh young generation.”

The second is from Dr. Rose A. Dyson, a former federal Progressive Conservative candidate and current Chair of Science for Peace (Media Working Group) at the University of Toronto. It’s been great to get to know Rose better over the past few years. She writes, “Chris Tindal is exactly the kind of ethical, Green candidate we need in Parliament. His sound judgment and grasp of the political challenges facing us at this juncture in our human history inspires and offers hope for a sustainable future to young and old alike in Toronto Centre.”

The third endorsement is from our progressive blogging community. I was happy to read last week that James Calder of The Progressive Right was coming to my campaign launch, saying “it’s time to try something new.” He made it clear, however (both in his post and when speaking with me at the launch) that he was just kicking the tires. Then, two days after visiting our office, he made a post titled Vote for Chris Tindal in Toronto Centre.

Thanks to all! I’m honoured to have your support.

Beyond Hope

toronto,

A friend of mine just sent me this piece by author and environmentalist Derrick Jensen, who happens to be speaking in Toronto tonight. Here’s a relevant excerpt:

More or less all of us yammer on more or less endlessly about hope. You wouldn’t believe—or maybe you would—how many magazine editors have asked me to write about the apocalypse, then enjoined me to leave readers with a sense of hope. But what, precisely, is hope? At a talk I gave last spring, someone asked me to define it. I turned the question back on the audience, and here’s the definition we all came up with: hope is a longing for a future condition over which you have no agency; it means you are essentially powerless.

I’m not, for example, going to say I hope I eat something tomorrow. I just will. I don’t hope I take another breath right now, nor that I finish writing this sentence. I just do them. On the other hand, I do hope that the next time I get on a plane, it doesn’t crash. To hope for some result means you have given up any agency concerning it. Many people say they hope the dominant culture stops destroying the world. By saying that, they’ve assumed that the destruction will continue, at least in the short term, and they’ve stepped away from their own ability to participate in stopping it.

I do not hope coho salmon survive. I will do whatever it takes to make sure the dominant culture doesn’t drive them extinct. If coho want to leave us because they don’t like how they’re being treated—and who could blame them?—I will say goodbye, and I will miss them, but if they do not want to leave, I will not allow civilization to kill them off.

When we realize the degree of agency we actually do have, we no longer have to “hope” at all. We simply do the work. We make sure salmon survive. We make sure prairie dogs survive. We make sure grizzlies survive. We do whatever it takes.

Not a bad point. Let’s get to work.