I was recently enjoying a picnic with friends and family when I suddenly found myself in the middle of a very interesting conversation. On one side of me was the executive director of a well known provincial environmental organization. On the other side was a former Malancthon town councilor and farmer. The farmer, a long-time family friend, is about as traditional a rural citizen as you can find. Traditions of family, small economically sustainable agriculture, and property rights are top concerns for him. For my environmentalist friend, preserving the commons (water, resources, healthy ecosystems) for the future are of critical importance.

As one might expect, the conversation started out a little rocky. My farmer friend was feeling threatened by increased environmental, and other regulation in a business that is less & less profitable by the year. My environmentalist friend was insisting that such regulation and monitoring is essential to the future health and wellbeing of Ontarians, urban and rural alike.

After listening for a while (the conversation had captured the attention of about a dozen others as well), I decide to wade into the rough waters.
We discussed things like the Alternative Land Use Services program which, if applied to all of Ontario, will pay for ecological services provided by farmers. We discussed ways to restore profitability to agriculture thereby creating food security for Ontario, and making projects such as the Greenbelt less painful for the farmer’s bottom line.

Before long everyone had found many things to agree upon, including the need for a greater understanding of the critical connections between urban and rural Ontarians, the need for greater accountability in government, and the need for a renewal of locally based economics.

Welcome to the Green Party of Ontario. In this age of uncertainty, we are rapidly emerging as the voice of reason in Ontario. Gone are the days when the Green Party was viewed as a one issue party. With any success we will also see the end of the days of partisan left-right politics, as we push forward pragmatic solutions based on solid values of social, economic, and ecological sustainability.

We have much work to do to prepare for the next provincial election in 2011. Your continued membership and support is important as we continue to build consensus among Ontarians and unite people in the goal of a better future for all.

Which brings me to one final observation from my weekend picnic. Both my environmentalist friend and my farmer friend are Green Party voters, one in Dufferin - Caledon, and the other in Hamilton Centre. The fact that these two voters are on the same page politically means we are definitely moving in the right direction. With your continued involvement we can become the voice of reason for all thoughtful Ontarians.