Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May has been a fierce and accomplished eco-warrior for decades and she "fights the good fight" well. May, a lawyer, was an activist in her younger years, then worked for the environment ministry in the Mulroney years, contributing to his reputation as the "greenest prime minister" in Canada's history. She's led the Greens for more than a decade and sits as the only Green Member of Parliament.
I've had the chance to chat with her, briefly, on a couple of occasions and she affirmed my commitment as a Christian minister to addressing environmental issues through the Lands for Life consultation process in Northern Ontario, twenty years ago. May is a Christian and claims, somewhat tongue in cheek, that after she serves as Prime Minister she'll become an Anglican priest.
Today, Earth Day, Elizabeth May will marry, just a few months shy of collecting her Old Age Pension. She and her fiance, John Kidder, seem quite smitten with each other and it's delightful that they've found love at this stage of life and despite her demanding schedule as an MP and Green Party leader. She has been busy preparing for the wedding and a Fall election campaign.
May is aware that weddings tend to be an environmental danger zone, producing hundreds of kilos of garbage as well as all the carbon associated with flights and other travel. They have combined the church's Easter flowers with their wedding, they will move to the reception in a cavalcade of electric vehicles, and the honeymoon will be a train trip back to Ottawa.
I certainly wish the happy couple well. And I hope that the Green Party gains traction in this Federal election. After years of holding my nose and voting strategically I'll probably take the plunge and vote Green in October, providing there is an active candidate in this riding who shows up for debates. I'm close to the same age as Elizabeth May and time's a-wastin' to step beyond the "tired and untrue" dithering of traditional parties when it comes to the environment.Perhaps this is a delayed wedding gift that many of us who care for God's good Earth can offer.
I have voted Green in the past, and probably will do so again in the next election. Like many voters, I am discouraged with the current leaders, and I seem to be that way almost every election. I may not agree with everything the Green Party stands for, but I do believe we need to do more than we are doing for the health of our planet.
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