Saskatoon-Wanuskewin 2011

Lately, I’ve had a lot of inquiries from residents of Saskatoon-Wanuskewin who want to know why I am not their candidate.  As my former constituents were aware, I fully intended to run again in the current general election.  I accomplished a number of things in the last national election that I am very proud of, and with a few years experience and two elections under my belt, I’m all the stronger, and that much better prepared.

Firstly, I am sorry.  You put your trust in me, and I have let you down.  Your support was not something I took lightly.

Over the last few years, the Green Party of Canada has shifted several people through the role of organizer for Saskatchewan.  A role that was filled by Mike Jones when I first came on board, and I’ll be honest…  they never should have let him go.  After the last general election, the GPC did away with the part time job Mike held, merging us with another of the three Prairie Provinces and turning it into a full time position (for the other organizer).

At this point Saskatchewan went from being a top priority to being bottom rung, just like our province is for every other political party.  I was disappointed, but it’s really par for the course.  We don’t bring in a lot of funds for the national parties.  It was bound to happen.

Next, all three provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta) were merged under one organizer.  And then, under yet another organizer, all three Prairie Provinces were merged with Northern and Eastern Ontario – because that makes perfect sense.  This organizer was Nora Shea.

Nora knew I planned to run again, and had been in touch with me.  Unfortunately the two of us had difficulty connecting the one time I knew she was in Saskatoon.  We had planned to work together on all the paperwork that needed to be filed in order to make my candidacy official.  But, I figured, the next time she found her way out here, we’d make it work and get everything formalized.  I wasn’t worried.  Nora knew my intention, and so to did every Green who knew me.

Fast forward…

About a month ago I overheard some happy chatter in regards to Saskatchewan officially having a full slate of candidates for the rumoured upcoming general election.  I say rumoured, because we all had been waiting for a non-confidence vote shortly after the last general election.  Sometimes the rumours were strong, sometimes they were a murmur.  They ebbed and flowed like the Oceans that border our country.

I was rather startled by this news…  as I was still a “candidate of record”.  Without my paperwork filed, there was no official anything.  Just an intention – albeit a well known one.

I queried Elizabeth May.  I taught her how to use BlackBerry Messenger last time she passed our way, and we have each other as BBM contacts.  Regardless of everything that has gone on within the party, she remains steadfast.  Always someone I can count on.  Always upfront, always honest.  I let her know what was going on, and asked her to look into things for me.  And despite a packed and hectic schedule, she did so quickly and without hesitation.  For that, I am very grateful.

It turns out that Nora had been fired…  and the claim from Sharon Labchuk (the organizer for PEI) was that she never passed on any information about my intention to again seek the candidacy for Saskatoon-Wanuskewin, and that would have been sufficient.  I felt badly, but amidst chaos, things like this happen.  People fall in the cracks, details are forgotten, information is not passed on.

However, Ms. Labchuk left me with a very bad taste in my mouth.  Rather than apologizing that I’d been overlooked, she instead began throwing the blame anywhere she could.  At Nora, at me…  at unnamed people whom she insisted had repeatedly attempted to contact me, but whom I didn’t actually hear from (why they would have been trying so hard to reach me if Nora had not informed them of my intention, I have no idea).   It very much reeked of “too bad for you, I don’t care, it’s not my problem, don’t waste my time”.

A political party’s worth can truly be measured from the ground up.  The leader, our figurehead, is vitally important…  but without each supporter, each volunteer, each candidate, each willing body pushing tirelessly towards change, those at the top have no hope and no future.  So while I fully support E. May, and believe wholeheartedly in her abilities and her integrity, the type of attitude displayed by Ms. Labchuk truly makes me fear for the future of our party.

I hope I’m wrong.  Truly I do.

So…  that is the long and short of it.

I fully intended to again fight to give a voice to all of you who otherwise feel you have none in this backwards, broken political arena.  And I am sorry that I am not there for you.  I do not know the man who has replaced me as your candidate, but I hope you will give him the same support you would have given to me.  And I hope that he will listen to you the same way I have, ensuring that your voices ARE heard.

In solidarity, ALWAYS, Tobi-Dawne Smith.