River Heights Rundown: Green's Elizabeth May Cameron

Welcome to the 4-part Battlegrounds: River Heights candidate rundown.

I will rank all four (yes, four) RH candidates according to my fantasy preferential balloting system.

Then I will explain why I chose them they way I did, at length, with way too many words, as usual.

Enjoy!!


Candidate #1:

Elizabeth May Cameron, Green Party

Rod Rouge Preferential Ballot Ranking: My Second Pick. (High praise for a newbie, I know.)

Got the robo-dial poll yet, RH resident? Doesn't even include Elizabeth May Cameron. And that buh-lows, right? Boooo, robo-polsters. You messed up on this one.

Fiesty newcomer Elizabeth May Cameron is studying historic precedence for trading in our loonies for carrots. And other tasty vegetables. (And I said about the carrots, 'finally, a fiscal policy I can really sink my teeth into... carr-uncy... mmm...' Heh.)

Her on-line bio says she organizes large crowds of volunteers, and rolls her sleeves up to grow great things on exclusive grounds. Excellent traits for a great MLA, and I am serious.

In her YouTube Interview by Adam the librarian, Ms. Cameron delivers a candid and seemingly unscripted roll on such topics as the oil sands (booo!), sustainable development, and the danger of basing infinite growth targets on finite resources.

(Ok, less than unscripted... she is clearly uncomfortable with the 'quick, what's the policy' format. And I actually like that because I _hate_ that format, too. So sick of parrots who speak trained things, empty things, on demand.)

(Then there was the mumbling bald guy. Listen carefully to his part. The mumble-to-Jazz puts you in a trance in under 10 seconds. The guy has powers. Maybe he's on staff, she doesn't say.)

Ms. Cameron scores on free Transit, a very interesting GP policy. It targets the low-and-middle class, takes thousands of cars off the road, and puts bucks (or carrots...) back in pockets to be taxed later.  The Green Bus has merit and bears investigation.

I'm giving Elizabeth May Cameron (IF that is your real name....) my second vote, and here's why:

Being a great MLA has little to do with policy, and everything to do with helping your constituents. You will not be the boss, so don't bother pretending you will run our area. You won't. You will facilitate things at best (and the PC's are the best at facilitating lately, aren't they, Minister Clement? Hmmm?)

Anyways, what you will do, if you are a great MLA, is work hard for your constituents. When they get the shaft, grab on tight and take the shaft out. When they are lost, start the fires and shine the light. When they move against each other, prepare beautiful common ground. As some celebrate, remind that we all share their joy.

Be with them, among them, and for them.

After watching her video, I think Elizabeth May has huge potential for such things.

She looks really young, so perhaps she'd consider the big red machine one day... (dude, the headlines, 'Elizabeth May Runs for Grits in Winnipeg'... national news, right?)

Let's hope this is her first kick at the can. Seriously, Elizabeth May Cameron. Think about it.

(Oh, hey, Elizabeth May...

http://greenparty.mb.ca/

Just in case you didn't find it yet...)