Ian Gartshore

What does it mean for our local economy and local jobs when virtually all of the money for electricity and fuels leaves the community?  It is not good.  Is it truly possible to create clean electricity locally, create good jobs here, AND stop paying fossil fuel companies those high prices? Yes! British Columbia already has cleaner electricity than does Alberta (where it is mostly coal-fired). Clean (much cheaper) electricity could power our transportation sector. Electric trains, electric or hydrogen buses, electric or compressed air cars, and far more cycling and walking paths would all contribute enormously to reducing the costs and pollution. Creating local jobs producing that clean electricity, such as is being generated at the local landfill and the drinking water pipeline coming out of the local mountains, is more than possible. Here we could be erecting wind turbines (perhaps Mount Benson, or the valley behind it), solar panels on most roofs, tidal power (this alon...

This week I was invited to submit a few paragraphs to a popular local blog, saying what my campaign platform was about.  I appreciate the opportunity! What I wrote about are the areas I hear the most concern about: Jobs, health, the environment, and how to pay for all of these.  The exercise of being concise, yet detailed enough to cover the many important subjects, is a good exercise. If you wish to see what I wrote, the summary can be found at the Go Nanaimo Blog .

A few years ago I was featured on one of Kait Burgan's Shaw TV segments. Here she points out how I "embody sustainability in his every day life."   It gives the viewer a sense of what is important to me relative to saving energy. It also reveals how I am hopeful, something of which we appear to be in short supply. To see this 4 minute segment click here .

I would like to share with you some of the many reasons why I support Ian Gartshore for MLA. Ian is informed. He’s involved. He’s insightful and practical. He listens. He looks for solutions. He’s reliable. But, most of all, Ian cares.   When I talk to him, listen to him, see the way he treats people, I absolutely trust that he will do his best for us. For Nanaimo. For British Columbia.   Ian will work with us, individually and collectively, for a thriving economy, a healthy environment, and a caring, connected community. How do I know for sure Ian will do this? He already does.

Imara Jones, economic justice contributor for Colorlines.com, writes: "As the New York Stock Exchange reached an all-time high this month, you’d think that the good times were back. But that would be incorrect. What happens on Wall Street has very little to do with what’s going on in the real economy. Corporate profits have never been higher, but — excluding the highest earners — real wages are at a 40 year low ." Read the rest of the story at http://www.nationofchange.org/we-re-hooked-growth-it-doesn-t-have-be-way-1364132165 Nation of Change's mission is, "to help people create a more compassionate, responsible, and value-driven world, powered by communities that focus on positive solutions to social and economic problems. We strive to accomplish this mission through unbiased, independent journalism combined with practical, real-world activism in order to create real-world actionable strategies for change." Check out some of their provokotive and informa...

Paul H. Ray, Ph.D Richard Brendan interviews Paul H. Ray, Ph.D in a recent episode of the Richard Brendan Show about an emerging segment of the population known as Cultural Creatives. Paul and psychologist Sherry Ruth Anderson (his wife) have tracked the growing demographic for several decades and in this interview he talks about the relationship of Greens to Cultural Creatives. The concern for future generations is one of the core values among cultural creatives who, as the name suggests, are interested in creating cultural and social change. There are less and less people identifying with traditional (rural or country) culture. Many began shifting to a modern cultural perspective following the industrial revolution and many more, since the 1960s, have shifted to a third way of looking at the world -- the Cultural Creatives. Ray and Anderson's book explores what cultural creatives are like, and it turns out sustainability, environmental responsibility, and social activ...

Do you think of yourself as green? What about Ian Gartshore, what shade of green do you think he is? There are many shades of green both in the colour spectrum and in the political spectrum and those of us who are supporting Ian in this election are here to show our own true colours. Have a look at this small sampling of possibilities and see if you don't catch yourself saying, "wow, that is sooooo me!" Bright Green You are bright and stunningly, unmistakably, brilliantly green. People turn to you for a rational explanation of things like green technology and why an economy based on infinitely increasing consumption makes no sense. Your clear sight allows you to see the sense in sustainability and the logic of resource stewardship.   Kermit Green Kermit the Frog was born in 1955. If you were too, it could be that you are Kermit Green. Kermit greens are sometimes melancholy, usually calm-headed, and al...