New TV ads for the GPC

Today, the Green Party of Canada released our first national paid TV ads. Here's a favourite:

What a month!

It's been just over a month since I last posted - I'm afraid that I've just been too busy working on the election to post about it. I've sure you'll understand. :)

If you haven't already, please recognise this election in light of one of its most important elements - the Green Party's big launch. Get involved. Support a local Green candidate or sign up with a key riding to do phone canvassing. Our success is up to you, and with your help, we can keep forcing old line parties to take on our issues and policies.

OMG 1MP

Welcome to Blair Wilson, Canada's First Green MP!

See the CTV Coverage - if you're lucky, you'll get to view the latest Conservative Party ad first - quite the combination. :)

This is a HUGE moment in Green Party history. It means that the "Greens will never be in Parliament" line is bunk. It means that Elizabeth May will be included in the televised leaders' debates. It means that if the by-election in Guelph is allowed to continue, there will be a big boost to the Green Party campaign to elect Mike Nagy.

Much more on this later, I'm sure!

UPDATE: Video from the speeches in Guelph (including yours truly, Mike Nagy, Blair Wilson, and Elizabeth May)...

Why Vote Green?

More HubDub - The General Election Date

Which period will include the next (40th) Canadian general federal election day?

I've created a HubDub question on the date of the next (40th) Canadian general federal election day. With all the punditry and politics around these writs, it's an open market!

HubDub on the Guelph By-Election

Well, here we go, another web 2.0 site with by-election content. HubDub.com allows you to "bet" (credits, not real money) on news events and other outcomes (sports and so on). Someone who posted a comment to the democraticSPACE has created the hubdub question "Who will win the Canadian by-election in Guelph?" and I've placed my bet (H$1000 for Nagy). You too can create a hubdub account and receive your starting credit of H$1000. Just search for "Guelph", choose Mike Nagy from the candidates, and fill in the 1000 in "Other Amount". Enjoy!

Who will win the Canadian by-election in Guelph?

Greg Morrow runs preliminary projections for Guelph

Check out Greg Morrow's (Democratic Space) preliminary projections for the Guelph by-election.

In short, he uses a logical set of calculations and estimations to predict that all four campaigns are competitive for a win (within 10% of each other). There are a few things I think he could also address in favour of the Greens. First, things are early on yet (one month to go), and there is a huge potential for momentum to move the Green vote. Second, summer by-elections have a lower turnout, but the Greens may enjoy the most excited and resilient electorate, which means that more Greens will turn out to cast their vote, while others who tend to vote in the same old patterns could be less enthused and stay home.

Guelph Weekend a Huge Success!

This past weekend (Aug 8-10), the Young Greens had a great time in Guelph! (If you were there, please log in to youth.greenparty.ca and post your photos and memories to the forum!)

We identified 500 new Green supporters, and walked 10% of the riding!

We had some wonderful moments learning from Mike Nagy (Guelph's candidate) and many other leaders from the GPC and GPO (Jim Harris, former federal leader; Shane Jolley, provincial candidate in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound who earned 33% of the vote; five members of the Young Greens Council; Barbora Grochalova, GPO Youth Coordinator; Denis Agar, YGC Ontario Regional Coordinator; Mark Kersten, GPC Ridings Coordinator; and more)!

We are full of hope, excitement, and veggie burgers.

So now, many of the Young Greens have gone home, but not for long. We are organising a sequel event August 22-24. Please register now! Speak with your friends and colleagues and put a carpool together. There will be lots of housing, food, t-shirts, and excellent company to be had. See you in Guelph!

Run For One Planet

Check out the Run For One Planet website! Matt and Stephanie included the Mike Nagy campaign office in Guelph as a stop on their North American marathon-a-day tour promoting action for the Earth. Mike couldn't help but check out their Tour RV. They're doing a great thing! And yes, of course, CTV came by to check out the mash-up of two very important races for green victories.

Guelph Goes Green: Update #3

[cross-posted from youth.greenparty.ca (2008-08-06)]

It's been another great week! We had folks come in from Toronto, London, and beyond for the big Saturday canvass, and we have a bunch of Young Greens signed up for the Youth Weekend in Guelph. The volunteer base is growing, and we need still more - sign up if you haven't yet. There's, food, places to stay, great people to work with, and the best chance ever to elect our first Green MP! Give Martin an email (mlavicto@yahoo.ca) to volunteer in person from out of town, or contact Mark to get phone canvassing - a huge help that you can do for an hour when you have it, wherever you have a phone and online access (mark.kersten@greenparty.ca).

On Saturday, George and I spent most of the day filming the first campaign video. It's doing very well - today it made the front page (News & Politics Most Viewed Today) at ca.youtube.com! Please post it, rate it, favourite it (great another new verb from web 2.0), rank pages it is on, digg it, make the url your status message, etc. etc. Every bit helps. If you would like to help with future videos, just let us know!

We can't wait to see you this weekend for the Young Greens Gathering! If you haven't officially registered yet, please click on "GO TO GUELPH" now! We have transportation assistance, food, housing, live music, special guests, and more!!