Her response was very congenial and well focused. In opening, she said she appreciated my concern and reminded me that "The Green Party of BC is completely separate from the Green Party of Canada." Adding that, "Andrew Weaver has not endorsed any refinery." And that, "The media reports have over-stated and misrepresented his position."
Elizabeth went on to say, "What needs to be made very clear is that the Green Party of Canada and BC support the 1972 moratorium, oppose any supertankers on our coastline, that we are working to ensure the oil sands exploitation is brought into line with environmental standards and carbon reduction, which means that going from the nearly 2 million barrels of oil a day to 6 million barrels of oil a day, as espoused by Stephen Harper, is simply not on. We oppose any pipelines through First Nations territory without their consultation and support and we oppose disturbing sensitive wilderness between Kitimat and Alberta. We oppose putting bitumen mixed with diluent in pipelines in any direction."
i'm posting this here, with her permission, because IMO it concisely summarizes the Green Party of Canada's position on this issue.
Mr. Weaver published a long, 3500 word, rebuttal of the original Straight article, written on February 10th, where he attempts clarify his position which Elizabeth describes as "nuanced."
Victoria Cross, Director of Operations at BC Green Party, also responded to my article but, as i've not confirmed with her whether or not her comments are for publication, i'll not publish or comment on them. Andrew Weaver himself has not responded to my 13 points directly, though i welcome him to at any time as i'm always happy to entertain any well reasoned anti-thesis and change my mind if/when it needs changing.
As i said on Feb. 9th, "Elizabeth May has worked hard for years to establish the Green Party's credentials." She deserves the respect she gets both here and abroad, she doesn't deserve to have her or her national party's positions tainted by this.
To close i want everyone to understand i'm not a member of either the provincial or national Green Party, or any political party anywhere. The thoughts and opinions expressed here on The Mud Report are my own. One of those opinions is that Elizabeth May is a dedicated and hard working person who's positions, though i don't always agree with them totally, are well thought out and attempt to serve the best interests of us all.
