Starlee Speers Astral Media Radio (Vernon)
The turnout in Vernon for the leader of the Green party was a lot greater than her first Okanagan stop. Elizabeth May told a crowd of over 2 hundred fifty people that the winds of change are blowing in the Okanagan Shuswap. "I really do think we can make a breakthrough here. People look at our policies and see that we're socially progressive but fiscally responsible, that we're about a lot more than the environment. And Huguette is just the star of the campaign." Huguette Allan is the green party candidate in the riding which is historically a Tory Stronghold.May told the Vernon crowd it was her first real campaign rally outside her own riding where she's running against Conservative Peter McKay.
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Breaking down barriers: May by Wayne Moore CASTANET
Green Party national leader, Elizabeth May, made a brief stop at Kelowna International Airport Friday afternoon en route to a rally in Vernon. While the amount of media in attendance equalled the dozen or so supporters, May said the turnout was not indicative of the level of support her party enjoys in the Okanagan or nationally. "Our big rally is taking place a little later today in Vernon and I'm really grateful that at the last minute, local volunteers came because we didn't give them a lot of notice, so I don't read anything into it," says May. The Green Party continues to do well in polls both nationally and provincially. While historically, the party has failed to hold those numbers on election day, May says the Green's are breaking away from all past history.
She says in two recent by-elections, Green Party members, including herself, have finished second and nearly captured seats. "The polling has now shown itself to be quite tracking through to election day, whether in by-elections or provincial elections where we poll. So, we're in striking distance of winning a lot of seats." When asked how many she hoped to attain, May says she hopes the Green Party can win 12 seats in order to attain parliamentary status. "I want to be there with a caucus, I don't want to be there by myself. The Green Party is about clean air, clean water and clean politics and we need to clean up the House of Commons to have the other parties see our example and be forced through our example to behave themselves." Earlier this week, the Green Party released its federal platform, one which May says shows the electorate they are a legitimate, reasonable alternative to old-line politics. "We are fiscally responsible but we are also socially progressive and we believe that without the sustainability of our living world, nothing else we do really matters." The Green Party has also advocated a one percent rise in the GST, back to six per cent. She says those extra funds, about $3 billion, would be returned to municipal governments for infrastructure projects. Earlier in the day, May said a Harper government was unacceptable to her. She reiterated that claim, saying she believes the country would be better off with a Liberal majority.
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Green Party Visit CHBC VIDEO
Web posted on Friday, 19 September 2008
Federal Green Party leader Elizabeth May makes a stop in the Okanagan.
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