Green Party Convention 2010

I attended the Green Party Convention - virtually.

It was an interesting in watching a fairly young party from this end of things. My son-in-law, Nepean-Carleton Green Party candidate Jean-Luc Cooke - AKA 'Papa', left us in Muskoka on Friday, while we helped looked after kids and had some fun watching the action live.

A combination of blogging, texting, and live feeds, let us read other's opinions on the whole event, while we discussed the issues. Some of the messages were fair-minded, others trite and not so politically savvy. Greens are developing a more rich identity, while preparing for the next election.

It was an interesting couple of days with Greens applying modern day technology to the conference.

Having attended my fair share of AGMs, the live feed was interesting. I think it transparent of the party to do this in such a public forum. I found it greatly interesting, having participated in my share of meetings, executive meetings, councils and elections in my working career.

It is a healthy process to examine policy and revise beliefs.
Some comments were just plain silly! Every party has those folks. It is a matter of education in the rules of the floor. Harnessing passion, while following protocol and moving forward in a limited time. Certainly, the workshops at the Conference would have been helpful to newbies! Many experienced political animals represented the party well, contributing to the discussion and the process.

Jack Lock, on his blog, said,  "The Green Party’s unconventional convention this weekend is fraught with procedural abnormalities."

The Green Party is trying to sort out new policy and procedures of the new millennium. Progress is being made as experienced members educate the newbies. Time will tell.

Here is the tweet I sent re: one Deputy Leader:

jennjilks Georges Laraques: moving speech, sans notes #GPC#cdnpoli http://bit.ly/94kgEy  

What a wonderful, bilingual addition to the party! Eloquent, well-spoken, and passionate, many agree.

jaymini:  #GPC Deputy Leader George Laraque addressing the crowd at Toronto 2010 convention. http://tweetphoto.com/40568629 [via Twitter]

Here are some of the tweets I read:

MikeSchreiner: 

#GPC National Convention closes with members engaged, active and ready to elect Greens. #TO2010 #gpo

ChrisInKW:  RT @kady: agreed! so much more fun than being there! RT@ottguy: The Sun's @laura_payton does deserve lots of credit for cvrge of the#gpc convntion

Laura Payton, journalist, was tweeting the whole time.

meyer4mobile:  RT @stephen_taylor: RT @kady: agreed! so much more fun than being there! RT @ottguy: Sun's @laura_payton does deserve lots of credit for cvrge of the #gpc conv [via Twitter]

Ken_Donnelly: 

Agreed! RT @ottguy: The Sun's @laura_payton does deserve lots of credit for coverage of the #gpc convention this weekend. #cdnpoli [via Twitter]

Jean-Luc Cooke - candidate: Nepean-Carleton

scbritton:  @stephen_young the #cpc, #lpc, even the fringe #ndp haven't ever considered anything that outlandish; just #gpc. At least they voted it down [via Twitter]

Amazing that the spotlight has shone so brightly on them, highlighted by Elizabeth May's performance in the debate lo these many years ago - well done.


"'A star is born' in Elizabeth May: pollster - The Globe and Mail"

Stephen Taylor: Debate leaves Harper ahead, May strengthened, Dion ...

3 Oct 2008 ... Elizabeth May surprised last night as she was the most sober of the ..... a "passionate performance"?

Jean-Luc Cooke in Nepean-Carleton

She gave a lot of credibility to the Canada's Greens, having gone into the debate with pretty low expectations for her performance. She truly has highlighted Greens in Canada. 


Elizabeth May garnered much difficult discussion and debate during the last election, as well. It was when she chose to side with the Liberals, and endorsed strategic voting to keep the conservatives out. 


We attended her whistle stop in Parry Sound back in Sept., 2008. This was a powerful moment in my mind. She leapt off of the train and spoke in heart-fel manner to those who had waited for hours for this historic moment. But all is not perfect in the party.

Elizabeth May making a point

"The support amongst the membership of the Green party is strong for Elizabeth, but there's also some interest to see us go to a leadership race," Streicker told Yukon radio station CHON."


As one person wrote: "She's also sold her soul to Stephane Dion, something with her LONGTERM party faithful are VERY upset with."


All parties have internal politics, as many of us know. Political animals are...well, political at all levels, both internally and externally.


Blogger Jack Locke, who tried unsuccessfully to become the Green candidate in a Montreal riding two years ago, accused the party of misrepresenting the pre-convention vote, according to Yahoo News. Everyone has a hidden agenda, methinks.

With Australia increasing their Green vote by 3.7% at the time of the GPC, momentum is beginning around the world. They phoned into the conference during a live feed. This, too, was a terrific part of the conference. 


After many years working with students in the area of developing environmentally-friendly curriculum, I am heartened by the response the next generation has created in the world. At least, those who are educated are responding in this fashion. We must spread the word no matter your political preferences, and protect the world around us.

Muskoka Wharf - Dockside Festival

We visited Gravenhurst, and spotted the ferries. Steamboating in Muskoka created the summer tourist market, and opened the area up to allow many to make a living here.

A fascinated toddler watched them come in and go out again.

Steamboating in Muskoka began in 1866, when Wenonah went into service. Our wedding day dinner was held on the Wenonah II, Aug. 22nd, 2002, after our marriage ceremony on our lakeside cottage frontage (then owned by my parents).

The Northern Lakes Navigation Co. from 1872 was known as the Muskoka Lakes Line in 1949. These ships allowed Muskoka to develop as a lumber and resort region.

From Ed (who is more up on history than I!):
Hi Jenn, If I'm not mistaken it was the Muskoka Lakes Navigation Company that started with the steamboats on the 3 big Muskoka lakes. The Segwun is the only original vessel remaining of course being relaunched in 1981 by Trudeau. 

The Wenonah II is a replica and launched in 2002.
The steamboat, which formerly docked in small towns such as Bala, were replaced by cars and other means of transportation.  Segwun (ret. 1887) and Sagamo (ret. 1906)  have been recreated and many continue to take lake trips.

As with all of Canada, we must respect our forests and lakes by carefully managing land, air and water, to allow future generations to enjoy Muskoka's beauty.

A shuttle to downtown.

Hurry, mommy!

There is nothing better that a festival, with juried art and artisans. Especially when mommy buys me a child-sized canoe paddle by Lake St. George Woodworks!

All mine!

Sleepy red-head

Thank you for lunch, Mommy!

Another thunderstorm in Muskoka

Beautiful summer days. Enjoy while you can!


It's been cool in the night, but fun in the daytime.


The thunder rolled in this morning. Below is a lightning video from June!

Josephine plays!

All it requires are some creative child rearing skills: dress-up, indoor and outdoor play, building indoor tents, and playing in the rain with a duck umbrella!

Papa has left for Toronto for the big Green meeting. We're having fun in Muskoka.

Josephine plays 

Jean-Luc, Nepean-Carleton Candidate, packs for the Green Party Conf.

Market Days - 2010

Nothing better than visiting the market. The Gravenhurst market featured a Baby pit stop, for breastfeeding mothers.

It's nearly the end of the summer, but the markets go until September. Then, the Fall fairs begin!

Monday: Bala, The Shield Parking Lot - Hwy 169, 9 - 2:00
Tuesday: none I've found... :-(
Wednesday: Gravenhurst: Muskoka Wharf, May 20 to October 7, 9 - 2:00 ]
Thursday: [ Huntsville: Can. Tire Parking Lot, 9 - 2:00]
Fridays: [ Rosseau: July 1st, 9 - 2 | Baysville: 5pm - 8pm ]
Saturdays: [ Bracebridge @ Memorial Park, 9-2 | Dorset: 10 - 2:00]

Favourite quotes

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.
-Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd US President (1882-1945)

Read, every day, something no one else is reading.
Think, every day, something no one else is thinking.
Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity.
-Christopher Morley, writer (1890-1957)

It has always seemed strange to me that in our endless discussions about education so little stress is laid on the pleasure of becoming an educated person, the enormous interest it adds to life. To be able to be caught up into the world of thought -- that is to be educated.
-Edith Hamilton, educator and writer (1867-1963)

These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves.
-Gilbert Highet, writer (1906-1978)

When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
-Abraham Joshua Heschel, theology professor (1907-1972)

Modern English is the Wal-Mart of languages: convenient, huge, hard to avoid, superficially friendly, and devouring all rivals in its eagerness to expand.
-Mark Abley, journalist (b. 1955)

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. -Edith Wharton, novelist (1862-1937)


A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.
-Greek proverb

☃ We are all tattooed in our cradles with the beliefs of our tribe; the record may seem superficial, but it is indelible. You cannot educate a man wholly out of the superstitious fears which were implanted in his imagination, no matter how utterly his reason may reject them.
-Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr, poet, novelist, essayist, and physician (1809-1894)

Drownings in Ontario - Statistics 2010

Same old, same old. I have rewritten this post to include current data.
Another dreadful week in Ontario. Three deaths on the roads, more drownings. Our laws say that there must be one life-jacket per person on-board a vessel. Not having one can result in a $250 fine.

I e-mailed Barbara Byers, of the Lifesaving Society.

As of today, Aug. 20th,  the number of drownings in Ontario from January to today is 90. The total for the same time last year is 87.
This includes drownings in lakes, rivers and pools."

Since May  6 toddlers have died in Ontario. 
 Ottawa woman, 19, latest summer drowning
Ottawa Citizen
One man, 26-year-old Michel Daoust, died after jumping from a cliff into Otty Lake near Perth. In the latest tragedy, police and firefighters were called to the scene. He jumped off at about 3:50 p.m. and didn't surface. His body was recovered.

Ontario coroner to review all drownings - Parentcentral.ca

6. 20 Aug  Bruce Peninsula - Twenty-four Year Old Drowns At Sauble Beach (#91?)
Mississauga man latest in spate of Ontario drownings‎ 

A 24-year-old Mississauga man died Thursday at Sauble Beach, the latest in a string of drownings inOntario this week. The man, whose identity has not been released, had been swimming in rough waters in Lake Huron, where two other young people drowned this week. 

5. Burlington man's death latest in a string of drownings‎

The drowning at Sherkston Shores park Thursday evening was the second Lake Erie drowning in Ontario this week. Marco Butler, 18, of Stoney Creek.

4. Body of woman drowned near Perth found19 Aug 2010 ... Police have found the body of 19-year-old Kristen Cross, of Ottawa, who disappeared Wednesday while swimming in a lake about 30 kilometres west of Perth, S.W. of Ottawa, on Dalhousie Lake.

Locals know that the lake is a lovely shallow lake, but 400metres is a long swim, especially if you are drunk. One person dropped her off in the lake, and took off on Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday afternoon her body was found.
The law says that boats and Personal Water Craft (PWC) must have a life jacket on board, but adults make choices not to wear them.
For the most part, clever parents put life jackets on children.

I would hope that this tragedy will be a lesson that will prevent another death.


3. Another drowning: Station Beach in Kincardine
On Monday, August 16th, Oksana Milovanovic, a 16-year old exchange student from Vertou, France. Her body was found at around 7 a.m. on the shores of Kincardine beach, approximately one kilometre north of where she was last seen.
Oksana Milovanovic went missing in Lake Huron on her second day in Canada. Her body was found Thursday, August 19th. This is the 3rd drowning this week.


The OPP marine unit, underwater search and rescue unit, and an OPP helicopter as well as detachment members on foot and ATVs were involved in the search for Milovanovic. Condolences to the family, whom the OPP met at the airport. 

2. Boy dead following Georgian Bay drowning incident

19 Aug 2010 ... A 10-year-old boy is dead and a 63-year-old woman is in hospital following a canoeing mishap that led to an overnight search on Georgian Bay.

1.Man drowns in Nottawasaga River - CTV News

10 Jul 2010 ... Witnesses said the 31-year-old victim waded into the river to his death marks the fourth drowning in the Georgian Bay area this year.

We have had so many drownings, but the causes vary. Mandatory life jackets will not prevent swimming and alcohol-related drownings. But they should be mandatory for children on a boat. Even then, as with the Georgian Bay incident, winds come up suddenly, a current takes them down the lake or river.  In addition, as the Marine Division of the OPP have been saying, kid's inflatable toys are not life preservers and belong in a pool, not in a lake, with boats and the wind creating large waves.

The family, at left, has a child in front (which is illegal) and lost the one in the back (which is just stupid). If they are going to participate in stupid, illegal activities, they are not going to follow mandated life jackets!

Immigrants are at higher risk for drowning while boating and swimming than people born in Canada, according to research from the Lifesaving Society.

Almost 20 per cent of immigrants are non-swimmers, compared to 4 per cent of people born in Canada, the study found. When they see 'locals' swimming at a fishing hole, e.g., Bala Falls, they jump in, too, unaware of the current and ignoring signage. last year in Bala, two men drowned (non-swimmers) who chased after a child floating away while wearing a life jacket.

I believe that adults should be given the benefit of making their own life choices. People swimming, non-swimmers falling into the water, high-speed boats, there are many reasons for people drowning...

• waterskiing without a spotter
• children swimming alone, or in dangerous water
• young males swimming in dangerous places (three this year)
• Poor equipment or equipment failure
• seniors swimming alone (a sector that is increasing due to demographics, and a stubborn independence!)
• inexperienced canoeists (two in 2009m a couple more this year)
• inexperienced swimmers near a dam (one last year, 2 this year)
• Personal Watercraft (PWC) operators speeding
• people unfamiliar with boats (bad enough)
• too many boats in a small area
• fishing drunk (even worse)
• boating drunk (the worst)

But the majority of drownings occur when males are fishing. Honestly!
Fishing: the cause of more deaths
14 May 2009
In the decade from 1991-2000, there were 5,900 water-related deaths  in Canada; of that total, 889 died fishing. More fishers drown than swimmers. And more fishers die than power boaters, canoeists, scuba divers, sailors and kayakers combined.

Ontario drownings continue.
Put the life jackets on the children at all times on a boat. But when I am quietly riding soberly in my canoe in September, when all is quiet, on a calm, still day, surely I should be able to make my own decision. The life jacket is there and no one is around. My husband demands I wear it, and I do, but I think this type of a law crosses the boundary.

There are always going to be drownings, although many are preventable. We phoned the police last year since cottage renters were drinking, setting off fireworks and being raucous in the wee hours. A bit later, after the police had visited and told them to be quiet, they then went out on the water. You could hear that they had been drinking. These people could have drowned. I heard them. They were being crazy. If we wanted to prevent drownings we could force everyone near the water or swimming to wear them. But this is ridiculous. Adults make stupid choices. Adults who fish and drink, who stand up in boats without life jackets, are taking a risk. They know it. Adults who swim in the dark while drunk make choices. We cannot legislate smart behaviour.

~~~~~~~~ My Muskoka: Watery Wednesday #48 (2009) By Jenn Jilks
I was quoted in the Globe and Mail: “Nothing's changed,” said Jennifer Jilks, a Muskoka cottager for more than 40 years and author of My Muskoka. “The attitude is, they come up here and it's party time.”

2009 Statistics for Muskoka

2008 Statistics for Muskoka