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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday November 19, 2008 - 7 Elizabeth May says Green Party will build on election gains By Tina Depko OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Green Party Leader Elizabeth May delivered a message of hope to a crowd of local Green Party members and supporters on Monday. Oakville was one stop along a cross-country whirlwind trip for May, who is promoting her new book, Global Warming for Dummies. May gave an energetic speech, focusing predominantly on the outcome of the recent federal election. The Green Party had banked on winning 12 seats on the Oct. 14 decision date. However, it came up empty handed. May said despite this, the Greens made significant gains that bode well for the future. She called the 2008 election a success for the party. "With a population of 33 million, we got about 1 million votes, which is great," she told the crowd of about 40 people. "We achieved the highest voter turnout in any first past the post system of any country in the world. We were extremely excited. Our results were positive. We were the only party that got more votes than last time." One of the ridings the party was counting on taking was Central Nova in Nova Scotia, which May calls home. However, Conservative incumbent Peter MacKay proved too difficult to beat. May acknowledged that running in the Conservative stronghold was a difficult decision, but she does not feel she choose poorly. She said spending so much time campaigning across the country as leader of the Greens likely cost her the victory in Central Nova. "I needed to be in my riding full-time, but also I needed to be across the country full-time," she said. "I only had about 10 days in my riding during the whole campaign, and that wasn't enough. I was told it was a bad idea to run in my home riding, but it doesn't feel like a bad idea. We did a phenomenal job in my riding and it was dis- on behind the scenes. One of the juiciest tidbits was the accusation that Conservative leader Stephen Harper used cheat sheets during the English-language leaders debate. May said she got a clear view of the elaborate, typed index cards while sitting beside him that night. "One of the rules was that every leader would go into this debate with just what was in their head, but you could write on blank index cards during the debate," she said. "I looked over at Stephen Harper, and realized that his white index cards were covered with printed type, which he couldn't have done in his own pocket. I was quite surprised he didn't feel he could carry it off with what was in his head." Rumours of the Greens joining forces with the Liberals and/or the NDP have been swirling since before the election. May said she has not ruled out cooperation, although she said it is not likely to happen given the different views of the other party leaders. See May page 9 NIKKI WESLEY / OAKVILLE BEAVER SIMPLE TO UNDERSTAND: Green Party Leader Elizabeth May holds up a copy of her new book, Global Warming for Dummies. "It is a scandal our current policies would allow high emissions, because per capita, we are second to the U.S. in terms of the amount of emissions per person on the planet." Green Party Leader Elizabeth May appointing not to get the seat, but the truth of the matter is, we won the election." May spent a part of her noon hour speech talking about her new book, which will be available globally and translated into several major languages. "It sets out the science of the climate crisis, but also for the first time in popular format, why international treaties matter, why Kyoto is important and also puts forward to a North American audience why it is that industrialized countries should go first," she said. "It also provides a lot of in-your-hand solutions of what you can do to make a difference. I'm hoping it will help." She stressed the importance of taking action now, rather than later. "We are running out of time," she said. "The efforts of the scien- tific community and foreign politicians have, up until now, been heard mostly in Europe and not in North America. But with the change that happened because of the election of Barack Obama, one of the things Canadians have to watch for is what the Canadian government does. Stephen Harper has run a campaign of sabotage against international agreements." May will travel to Pozna, Poland next month for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which she said is critical. She said she would like to see Canada become a leader in combating climate change. "There is a very small window in which to act," she said. "It is a scandal our current policies would allow high emissions, because per capita, we are second to the U.S. in terms of the amount of emissions per person on the planet." Despite the new book, the election dominated most of May's presentation. She spoke of her elation in being included in the English and French televised federal leaders debates, saying that the Greens will likely continue to be part of the debates. She also gave her audience insight to some of the events going Our Prices are Fall-ing hose and head head power $ 399 BUY $ CANADIAN 499 FOR LESS! VACUUM LTD. OAKVILLE OAKVILLE VACUUM LTD. CATALOGUE STORE · 31 years in Oakville We Repair all Makes of Vacuum Cleaners & Sewing Machines OAKVILLE VACUUM LTD. OAKVILLE VACUUM LTD. ¤ 198 SPEERS RD. OAKVILLE 905-844-4736 Just west of Kerr Street, beside Money Mart www.oakvillevac.com