The leader of the Green Party of Canada, Elizabeth May, will be speaking in UFV’s Evered Hall on September 12 at 2:00 p.m. May was invited to speak by the recently established UFV Greens club, and will be discussing “green economy and its relation to university education and jobs” at the free event on Tuesday.
“The process of bringing Elizabeth May to UFV began a few months ago when the UFV Greens were having a few beers at the campus pub, and discussed the possibility of bringing in a speaker to UFV,” explained UFV Greens secretary Taylor Wilson. “Naturally, we thought of Elizabeth May as one of the top candidates we could reach out to.” Despite May’s status as the leader of a federal political party, Wilson added that it was not difficult to arrange the event. “When we first floated the idea out there, we thought it was a little bit of a longshot, but it ended up coming together quite easily thanks to her dedicated team.”
May has been the leader of the Green Party of Canada since 2006, and in 2011 she was elected as Member of Parliament for the Vancouver Island riding of Saanich—Gulf Islands, making her the first member of the Green Party to sit in Parliament. She was re-elected in the same riding in 2015.
“In an ethos where many have become disillusioned with politics and politicians, Elizabeth May stands out as a genuine leader who works tirelessly to help lead Canada and the global community in the right direction,” Wilson explained when asked why the UFV community should come to hear her speak. “Elizabeth has been at the forefront of the Green movement for several decades, and it is a privilege to have her speak on our campus.”
The UFV Greens are a relatively new club, having only begun operating in earnest at the end of the 2017 winter semester. The club was founded by Elke Crosson, and is now led by club president Quintin Stamler. “We are hoping that this year we will grow in numbers and become more politically active,” Wilson said. “As a group, we like to get together and discuss issues that are important to Green politics — so the club is a great way to get plugged into the important issues taking place in our community. After this event is over, we plan on moving forward with a petition aimed at the Agricultural Land Commission who is in the process of approving a proposal to convert 283 hectares of land zoned as ALR to industrial.” Wilson also commented that “it is common for people to think of the Green Party as being only concerned with environmental issues. While protecting the environment is obviously a key factor in Green politics, there is much more to the Green political platform.”
The club has plans to hold more events going forward, including a panel discussion towards the end of the semester, as well as regularly scheduled meetings, with dates and locations to be announced on their Facebook page.
Elizabeth May’s presentation will take place in Evered Hall in the SUB on UFV’s Abbotsford Campus from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 12.
Disclosure: Quintin Stamler is the Business Manager of The Cascade.
Jeff was The Cascade's Editor in Chief for the latter half of 2022, having previously served as Digital Media Manager, Culture & Events Editor, and Opinion Editor. One time he held all three of those positions for a month, and he's not sure how he survived that. He started at The Cascade in 2016.
