The Green Lining
Green Party leader Elizabeth May made her latest stop on her Maritime tour to Fredericton February 13th. Despite a major snow storm, May’s supporters plowed through to Wilmont United Church to see the Saanich-Gulf Islands MLA.
The churches community room proved much smaller than the venue used by Conservative leader Andrew Scheer. With just a few couches, chairs and some snacks, the meeting became a roundtable discussion on national issues.
Robert Ogilvie is a Fredericton tech entrepreneur, and was one of many invested in the engagement of the meeting.
“There was good turnout which is fantastic and also, it was a good intimate room and intimate setting. So, people can actually feel engaged. It wasn’t some big auditorium where it felt too one directional, so I think it all went very well,” said Ogilvie.
During the Trudeau era, town halls have been on the rise in Canada. In the past month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative leader Andrew Scheer have toured the Maritimes.
Ogilvie believes that these events can give Maritime people a voice in national matters.
“Atlantic provinces are low population-density. Sometimes, compared to more dense areas, it can feel like ‘oh, well. It’s less important.’ Actually, in a lot of ways, not just every place has value, but that’s actually where our most innovative ideas come out of. So, it would be a tragedy looking at a few metro areas as an accurate cross-section of Canada, it’s not,” said Ogilvie.
During the town hall, May discussed public concerns from citizens young and old. Concerns ranging from climate change, partisan politics, to electoral reform, her responses were passionate and graceful. She even compared fighting climate change to fighting a war using the words of Winston Churchill.
With the federal election less than eight months away, the Greens are hoping to gain ground on Parliament Hill. St. Thomas student Joshua Sallos believes a shift in politics is coming to Canada.
“Here in New Brunswick, for the first in over 80 years, we have a minority government and especially with the two small parties, the People’s Alliance and the Provincial Greens, we see desire in the population to have a more representative government,” said Sallos.
