Happy Canada Day! In Saanich BC, we will be spending Canada Day in quarantine. My youngest daughter returned from a Rotary exchange in Finland last week, so we are all self-isolating at home. Many of us are facing the most unusual Canada Day in our life times, complete with self-isolating, social distancing, mask-wearing, and uncertainties about our future.
This is not the Canada Day we expected, but perhaps it’s the Canada Day we need. This is a time for reflection that goes beyond the celebrations, the flags, and the fireworks.
World events have called on us all to reconsider how we respond to long standing racial injustices at home. The pandemic requires us to address the deep economic inequalities and the safety of our seniors in Canada, as well as new solutions such as the guaranteed livable income. And solutions to the climate emergency are now more important than ever, as fires rage in Siberia.
But 2020 is also the year that Canadians are pulling together again in the face of an emergency, applying Dr. Bonnie Henry’s advice to “Be kind, be calm and be safe.” Throughout our history, we’ve looked to the future, asking “What should we be?” Then we’ve turned that vision into reality. Let’s make 2020 a turning point for the Green Party, for Canada, and for our planet.
PRIDE WEEK
It’s Pride Week, a time to celebrate the achievements of Canada’s LGBTQ2A+ community! Let’s also celebrate the Green Party of Canada as the first federal party to take on the fight for equal marriage in 1996. It’s also a time for Canada to support SOGI, increase human rights protections for transgender and non-binary individuals, and advocate an end to state-sanctioned discrimination of LGBTQ2A+ communities around the world!
WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Topic: Honest, Ethical & Caring Leadership
July 2nd – 19:00pm Eastern Time
Click here
Guelph, Ontario
July 8th – 19:00pm Eastern Time
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Weekly Saturday Call- 11 AM PST/ 2 PM EST- Click here to join
THIS PAST WEEK
The debates and Zoom calls during the leadership campaign have been fun and revealing. We have an amazing, diverse group of leadership candidates. To me, the most revealing debates were the TV Ontario debate, hosted by Steve Paikin, and the Manitoba Greens debate. You will find the links to these two debates at www.davidmerner.com under our “Events” page. Please join me on the Zoom calls and debates scheduled throughout the rest of the summer!
HOW TO HELP
SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow our campaign on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date with events, Green Party policy, and campaign updates!
Thank you to everyone who is volunteering and everyone who has donated to our campaign. I’m looking forward to meeting you in person over the coming weeks and months!
Sincerely and gratefully,
David