January 2009
Happy New Year to all! May 2009 bring you health and fulfillment.

In this newsletter:

1. What we want from an Economic Stimulus Plan
2. Finally: Poll-by-Poll Results of our efforts during the Campaign.
3. In the Spotlight of the Green Party Newsletter!
4. Upcoming AGM and Get-together.
5. Did you know that natural products are again threatened? click on BLOG above and go to the HEALTH section.
1. What we want from an Economic Stimulus Plan
Obama's presidency gives us hope that 2009 may be the year where conservation takes precedence over consumption. Conserving helps solve economic and environmental problems. Over 50% of the energy we use in Canada is wasted.

The Green Party's Economic Stimulus Plan should be coming out this week, ahead of Harper's. It includes measures that encourage:
    • Local economies
    • Expanded rail system with made-in-Canada rail cars - repair of road infrastructures, not new roads
    • New water and waste infrastructure that conserve water and allow grey water recycling
    • Energy efficient social housing and incentives for all energy efficient measures
    • Immediate programmes to assist those in need
    • Extended EI benefits.
Have other ideas? Please email me or put them on the blog.

2. Finally: Poll-by-Poll Results of our efforts during the Campaign.
The poll-by-poll results of the last federal clearly show the paybacks of our canvassing and sign placement efforts. In addition to being the one riding who progressed the most across Canada, we:
  • For the first time, we WON in some polls, 7 of them: Mabel Lake (where I live), Cherryville,  Kingfisher, Vernon Polls 133, 134, and 158, and Lumby Creighton Valley.

  • We achieved 25% and greater in 27 polls, and achieved 17% and greater (our riding average was 17.3%) in 153 polls  - 60% of the riding!

  • In the polls canvassed, our support grew from an average of 4.5% to up to 51%, the average being about 22%.
Those of you who worked so hard at placing and maintaining signs, or holding up signs on the roads can also be proud. All of this contributed to making us a viable choice. Imagine next time!
3. In the Spotlight of the Green Party Newsletter!
Our success didn't go unnoticed by the Green Party. Their latest candidate spotlight in the Green Newsletter, which goes to 80,000 people, had my picture and said: "Huguette Allen is the Green Party candidate for Okanagan-Shuswap where she won 17.3% of the vote in this past election, her first as a federal candidate. She is one of the Green Party's brightest stars and a candidate to keep an eye on for many elections to come..." http://www.greenparty.ca/en/news/2009-01-08/candidate-spotlight-huguette-allen

Whether this pans out will depend on how you, the supporters, feel about the next election. The only reason I did well is because I had so much support. We can discuss this at our upcoming AGM.
4. Upcoming AGM and Get-together.

The Green Party Biennial General Meeting will be in Pictou county Nova Scotia from February 27th, 28th to March 1st - see: http://www.greenparty.ca/en/convention for registering.

OUR Okanagan-Shuswap Greens AGM will be in Vernon on Saturday March 7th. This will be a good occasion to meet other greens in our area, to bring your ideas or concerns, and to help shape future green activities. Look for more details in the February Newsletter.

Hope to see you then!
Huguette.