A message to the occupiers of planet Earth: It’s All about Energy: Towards a Regenerative Earth

(Concepts: Embodied Energy, the Laws of Thermodynamics, Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI), Fiat Currency, Equality)

One of the secrets of the universe is in plain sight.

When you eat a piece of cake, it provides energy for your body to function. If you had to pay for the cake using money, you cannot mistake the money you used to acquire the cake for the cake. You can’t eat the money. So why is everyone chasing the money instead of the cake?

The future will not be like the past.

While it is prudent to study past geology and ecology of the planet, the second law of thermodynamics indicates that energy, always seeking equilibrium, is unidirectional. This is a law that supersedes any law created in the human mind and implemented by humans – The laws of nature are outside of human influence in this dimension.

Ecologically, for approximately 2 billion years of plant and animal life on Earth, sun energy has accumulated on the Earth through life forms. Aside from the gift of petroleum that ancient life forms have provided, one result is that the height of biodiversity on Earth was approximately 1880 – just before humans began having a negative impact on Earth’s carrying capacity. Biodiversity is an energy index or energy indicator. Biodiversity has some impact on the planet relative to Earth’s geological history. In that sense, some of the currently still high biodiversity of the planet is mitigating the geological changes that resemble previous periods of time when the planet had higher sea levels. But at the current rate of species extinction, at least 200 times that of normal, the planet is losing biodiversity at a rapid and alarming rate; a rate that is also exponential. With this understanding it is plausible that humans can conclude that investing energy into biodiversity will have benefits to mitigate overuse of energy in another form of bioaccumulation (fossil fuels) and the recent introduction of life-challenging products of
nuclear fission. Humans need to use biodiversity as a resilience tool as it is now acting in that capacity relative to geological time. But for humans to have a role in increasing biodiversity, humans must have easy access to energy when needed, and use that energy in very specific ways… sometimes deciding not to use energy at all.

The only way for humans to solve this problem is for humans to consider, under all and any circumstance, energy return on energy invested when making decisions about any action to take. Often humans who have too much energy don’t make decisions based on energy; the glut of energy distorts their understanding of its contextual abundance or scarcity. The primary framework for decision making, especially in the “West” is money. And this only takes place because it appears there is so much energy available right now. Humans use money to make decisions, especially the ones they consider important. In this universe, this is an error in judgement.

One way to go about encouraging people to make the proper decisions with full consideration of energy-return-on-energy-invested and the Laws of Thermodynamics is to change the systems of exchange to reflect energy rather than the disconnected system humans now have with fiat currency (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_currency). This is only one way to approach the problem and it not necessarily exclusive to all other strategies that consider energy-return-on-energy-invested. But it’s one that has broad appeal and can be easily instituted relative to the problems that Earth and your species will face if the destruction of the ecosphere continues unabated. It is a rapid band-aide approach that has a specific function in this time and space to prepare people to use a system of energy tabulation when preparing to make decisions about the future.

The power to reverse the damage humans have done to Mother Earth, your Mother Ship, requires more control on energy, and energy placed in specific areas. You have the tools to rejuvenate the planet, increase her biodiversity, and bring human relationships back into balance with nature, but it requires your complete focus and concentration on the science of energy. This will not be an easy task because energy also has many definitions and forms, so it’s difficult at first for people to understand “energy”. The idea of energy is a moving target because ultimately all things are energy. Everything is energy. In many cases, the ecological rejuvenation that must take place is best done by nature alone – meaning no amount of human intervention (and therefore energy expenditure by humans) should be undertaken. Simply stated, the energy return on nature doing the job is much greater a return than if humans intervene.

Importantly, energy tabulation and understanding only work in conjunction with two other important secrets: Equality (where no one or group of people oppress others – very much unlike the global slave system now in place on planet Earth) and the rejection of faith in technology. The Occupy / (Un)Occupy movement is best doing this.

Another reason that energy literacy amongst the human population is going to be a significant task is because people are familiar with the way investments works relative to money. You take a certain amount of money and invest it; the result is some sum of money over and above the original amount invested. You take 10 dollars and invest it for an annual return of 10% for example. The banks expect rates of investment return when they lend you money – if you use credit from a bank using a credit card, the bank’s rate of return is sometimes 20-25%. Since humans know very well this system of expectation, it frames the discussion presented here about how to “invest” energy for a return on that initial investment. Humans expect a return that is reasonable and at this point in time 20-25% is accepted as reasonable when using short term credit on a credit card. There will be significant reluctance to convince the world that humans must now use energy as an
indicator of value in contrast to money. Two things take place when you use energy as your instrument of investment. First, there is a specific and considered limit on how much energy is available, and second, the rate of return is more closely defined by the rate of energy return of nature itself. In nature, the rate of return on energy invested, on average, is drastically lower than the rates of return in the monetary system humans are and have become accustom to. If you are using energy as your investment tool, the rate of return is in-line with the median rate of return for nature – and that stands perhaps under 2%.
So while humans can still gain and grow with energy investments, that growth is
slower and takes longer. It is a rate of return defined by the universe, not by the banks. Ironically, as such it is also a rate of return that is entirely more fair and egalitarian. No longer is an arbitrary and unilateral decision about the “rate” of return defined by humans – usually humans how have power and use power to retain power. A rate of return defined by nature can only be more reasonable and easier for humans to agree upon.

Experiments have shown that cooperation yields a higher energy return on energy invested than competition. For example, if you take a human and have that human shovel dirt from one location to another over the course of a certain period of time, that process, on average, produces a result that can be increased by 25% by simply adding another person to the process. Cooperation moved 25% more dirt than had the individuals moving dirt separately from each other – even in direct competition to each other. It is clear that
competition is contextually based on the specific goal in mind. And at this moment in the evolution of humans, human future prospects and its stated goal of survival on this planet would be best served by cooperation, not competition. That is rate of return more in-line with the rate of return of a credit card company – so while on average nature certainly takes a much longer time to produce an “investment” return, it is possible under the right
circumstances and intent that energy returns on certain energy investments can
be significant. Free energy may be one of those options, but even in a world of free energy, humans will still need to carefully consider what energy is expended upon.

Some people are starting to understand what embodied energy(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embodied_energy) means, and some corporations are using it as a secondary decision making tool for large industrial projects. (The beauty of energy tabulation is that it can be applied to large industrial projects as much as it can be applied to the simple, most humanly intimate things in life.) But often industrial projects yield a net energy loss (such as the entire non-thorium nuclear industry, which is really just a ruse for nuclear weapons and a more local example, the Alberta Tar Sands) while at the same time turning a monetary profit because the monetary tabulation is what humans most use to make sense to each other and to convince each other that a project should take place even though there are significant environmental impacts and ultimate energy loss. Large industrial projects are useful for a few people at the exclusion of all other people, and therefore, in terms of energy, such projects have been and will continue to be seen throughout humanity’s future history as grave errors in human judgement.

A temporary institution of a global system of energy tabulation will transform the use of “money” and encourage corporations, organizations, governments and individuals to make important societal decisions by the tabulation of energy use and function; the energy unit must be used to determine how humans tabulate value, how humans determine how humans relate to each other, how humans make decisions; doing so is the next human evolutionary step. Without it, humans face extinction. This initial evolutionary step is simple and can be instituted quickly; once humans broadly understand that energy is what keeps humans alive, not money, the process becomes easier.  Every living creature in nature uses instinctively this theorem to exist and propagate, why are humans not using
this same instinctual understanding?

It is energy and energy alone that has allowed the human species to grow in number on planet Earth to 7 billion people. It’s not technology or intelligent decisions or clever social schemes. Many will say that it is the invention of money that allowed humans so much – but without energy from somewhere, the money cannot deceive in the manner it currently
does. All of these must be animated by energy and energy alone (willpower is nothing without the physical energy to animate it). Without access to energy to animate ANY idea, those ideas have no wings. And the human effort to rejuvenate planet requires energy.

Energy is everything, and the reason humans are in the process of destroying the Earth is not because humans cannot have their needs and wants met; by contrast, at this moment in human history, humans have to simply reduce needs and wants so that other life forms may live too and bring the surplus of energy that biodiversity creates to planet Earth.

Any overage of energy use denies other life forms the opportunity to live.

The imbalance humans have with nature is directly related to how much energy humans use; sometimes something as simple as smoking a monoculture / corporately produced single cigarette is a large and unnecessary use of energy relative to nature. The cigarette can offer momentary pleasure to only those who would have that pleasure persist for the duration of their human life. It is very much unlike the pleasure a human feels when they consume a volume of water. Humans will never eliminate cigarettes because self-destructive behaviour is all part of being human. But in terms of the human collective, the body politic and nature itself can do without the corporate production and mass consumption of products that are an affront to nature.

There are so many examples of energy being consumed in unwise ways. An individual’s life will be better if all other humans understand the principles that belie and inform all successful life (nature).  Things that belie successful human life include: Large quantities of CO2 in the atmosphere or in one’s immediate space; Toxins produced by energy use; Toxins produced by energy acquisition from the earth (be it mining for oil or metals), etc. ; the creation of radioactive material on planet Earth. Things that inform successful life: Pure water; Energy on hand and available when needed; Biodiversity; Variety and purity of food, etc.  

One part of the Laws of Thermodynamics that cannot be overlooked is that when energy is transformed from one form to another there is a change in composition of the original form of energy. That means that in the case of energy use – using gasoline to move around in a car – the form of energy in gasoline is dispersed into separate components: heat, light, sound, CO2, CO, heavy metals, water, etc. Humans sometimes refer to the end products
of this process as “waste”. But this statement is only accurate if you have a situation where nature cannot absorb the results of energy transformation. Nature is the primary consumer of human waste in all forms. But when humans make “waste” at a rapid rate, as is taking place at this moment in history, the ability for nature to absorb waste i compromised and in many cases, diminished.

Humans tend to rely upon the notion that nature is all powerful and can take care of all of the waste humans produce. Humans rely upon nature to clean-up and absorb waste, mess, by-products… and it usually does, but not at a rate that is equivalent to the rate at which humans now create waste. Humans are using too much energy in a short period of time – it’s really that simple.

Human have expended approximately a trillion barrels of oil in a very short period of time relative to the amount of waste absorption nature can provide in the same period of time. While nature is unable to absorb the large amounts of waste from the large amounts of energy use, humans often simultaneously decrease nature’s ability to handle waste. Many of the things humans use energy for also destroy nature’s capability – like mining and road building. This is sometimes called Energy Cannibalism(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_cannibalism). This human activity can be likened to a snake eating its own tail. Humans will consume themselves very soon without transformation. That transformation starts with acknowledging that the universal currency is energy and this understanding must be functionalized in the human population first with a form of an energy tabulation or energy credit system that is global in scale.  It should be mentioned that currencies do not necessarily have to disappear – they will have their place for entertainment, but will likely not be used to operate basic needs as is done today.

If humans make all forms of symbolic exchange a unit of energy, a few things take place: an automatic limit to the amount of energy units in circulation is initially stable, and any increase will, by nature, increase slowly in an ergonomic fashion. Investment of energy units logically results in an energy surplus. Humans will not necessarily lose their coveted sense of how they currently relate to each other by way of a monetary method, but such a
format will be secondary, and hopefully over time disappear.

Humans need to slow down the planet’s human activity and reduce the amount of resource consumption – particularly the energy and nutrients humans throughput their bodies. Producing food with energy- invested-for-energy-return in mind shows that the energy return on organic food is much higher than petroleum food and therefore preferable (without necessarily taking into account that organic food production slows down energy harvest and consumption to a level of waste creation that nature can handle without impairment; organic food is also more nutricious for the human body).

When considering the complexity of energy-return-on-energy-invested, it is important to institute an energy understanding within the current human conceptualization of how to do things. Humans can’t immediately all become raw-vegans and expect this to work. Humans can’t all be expected to produce food right away; there’s always a learning curve. What is realistic however is to allow people to accumulate wealth as an index of energy accumulation, not monetary criteria, to initially have them understand the laws that govern all life in the universe. This shift will have radical and long lasting effects on the planet, on humanity, and on other living species.

There is no correlation between energy and money. It does not exist. The correlation between energy is energy alone – it is represented by units of energy. If you want humanity to survive, if you want the human species to continue to exist, you must learn about energy, you must teach each other about energy, and you must relate to each other through energy, NOT through money. If you LOVE you must use as little energy as you can so that other life forms may continue to exist as you exist. Energy is how humans relate to each other, not money, not power, not superiority, not inequality and oppression of entitlement. In nature all living entities are equal and the human species must reflect that reality and embrace it so as to evolve with nature. It has taken 5 billion years to get to this point; humans require the realization that energy is the currency of the universe and understanding it as the basis of everything provides the key to how humans can stop the human destruction of the ecosphere and the ultimate destruction of themselves as a result. Being enslaved to each other as humans is anachronistic in a world where humans each know the true basis of life. Without the realisation that energy is the currency of the universe the human species will perish. It’s all about Energy.

An email I sent to my voters directly after the results were determined:

Voters, thank you so very much.

I’ll write a more detailed response to the voters of the riding and post the text on my website soon.

I wanted to say that I’m really pleased with the GREEN results in West Vancouver – Sunshine Coast – Sea to Sky Country.

While we did not do nearly as well both nationally and in the riding as in 2008 – we managed to get our leader into the House of Commons! This is a massive hurdle we have overcome and it will be the springboard for future Green success.

I interpret the numbers like this:

The Green popular vote nation-wide shrank to 3.91% from 6.8% in 2008. That’s a drastic reduction in popular vote nationally.

The Green popular vote in WV-SC-S2S shrank from 14.42% to 7.28% of the vote – that mimics the national average decline in Green voters from 2008 to 2011. At first blush, this appears to be a dramatic drop. It’s not. What it indicates is that the riding is still very Green. In the riding, many votes were lost to strategic voting – more so this time around than in 2008 – Green votes were lost to the Liberals and NDP. So the real indication of Green voters in WV-SC-S2S is actually much higher. I would say perhaps by 2-3% higher putting the number of actual Green voters in the riding at around 10%. Remember too that the turn out for this election increased to an amazing 64.2%. Some of our apparent losses are not really losses because the total number of voters increased enough to be significant.

Importantly, the 7.3% of the popular vote in WV-SC-S2S is just under double the national average. WV-SC-S2S is a very Green riding.

Suffice to say that some predictions can be made about future elections in WV-SC-S2S. If I continue to be the candidate in the next election, our chances go up. If we see Elizabeth May in an all-candidates debate, our vote share goes up. If we continue to push our elected leaders in the right direction, our vote share goes up. If we reduce the need in our riding for strategic voting, our vote shares go up dramatically. If Elizabeth works hard to portray the Green Vision in the House of Commons, our vote share goes up.

All this to say that appearances don’t mean much without context and the context indicates this campaign did shockingly well given the circumstances: a budget less than 1/50^th of the major parties, an essentially solo candidate without an organized team, a first-time candidate in a general election, a signage volume that was less than modest, a platform that gets little actual examination from the media, a leader who was excluded from the nationally televised debate… etc.

With this context in mind, you can see why I am indebted to the people of WV-SC-S2S. I’m immensely grateful that my plea to avoid “strategic voting” was taken to heart and to all those who voted Green because it’s the right thing to do, I’m forever at your service.

We will not stop until we see the paradigm shift in human consciousness that realigns our relationship with nature – one that insures that our children and children’s children flourish and benefit from the decisions and actions we take now.

There is a great deal of work to do in our communities and I feel very hopeful that the Green agenda will be taken seriously, respected, and considered to the fullest benefit of our common future.

I’m also confident that Mr. Weston realizes what the results indicate too. I will be certain to impress upon him this assessment and to remind him that runaway power is as dangerous as runaway climate change. He is smart and considerate and I know he will listen to our needs. We’ve got our work cut out for us. The leverage we needed has been provided in our riding. We need to keep the Conservatives in check until the next election; upon which time we may actually have a very good chance at winning.

And don’t worry about Mr. Harper axing the subsidies to parties. The moment Mr. Harper does that is the moment he’ll for certain lose the next election. We need to keep the pressure on the Conservatives because they are so badly misinformed.

Thank you again.

Please feel free to contact me anytime. I’d like to hear your stories, your suggestions, your ideas, and your vision.

Thank you, Thank you. B.

Brennan WAUTERS
Green Party of Canada Candidate, West Vancouver – Sunshine Coast – Sea to Sky Country
brennanwauters@gmail.com
brennan.wauters@greenparty.ca
604 727 4694
Twitter: @brennanwauters
www.brennanwauters.ca
www.greenparty.ca
The Riding: http://tiny.cc/p1szb

To fund the Green Party of Canada: http://tiny.cc/qdxym

http://www.elections.ca/scripts/pss/FindED.aspx?L=e

I tried to make this the defining statement of why I’m running in this election.

It states that we are in trouble both environmentally and politically.

http://www.straight.com/article-389197/vancouver/brennan-wauters-face-ecological-collapse-we-must-empower-ourselves-take-action

Please feel free to pass along to others anything you see on my site that can stimulate discussion and change.

If you’re Green and thinking about Strategic Voting – take the pressure off of yourself and Vote Green in the riding of West Vancouver Sunshine Coast Sea to Sky Country.

Strategic voting in WV-SC-S2S is not going to make a difference in our riding relative to the large number of people that have already decided their vote. That is why our riding is not designated a “swing” riding; or rather a riding poised to beat the Conservatives. The reason no one is in a good position to beat the Cons in our riding is because the Cons are running the incumbent, and because the only single candidate of the current slate that ran in the last election is Mr. Weston. Does anyone see that in our riding of WV-SC-S2S we are better off voting for our heart felt choice?

There are about 97 or 98 thousand eligible voters in WV-SC-S2S. Last election in 2008 there were 60 677 votes cast out of 95 764 eligible voters. The results-breakdown from 2008:

Cons 26 949 (44.56 %)

Lib 16 069 (26.57%)

NDP 8 728 (14.43%)

Greens 8 723 (14.42%)

If you’re Green better to park your vote Green and use it as leverage when you want to write a letter to the MP and tell him what you want relative to the vote. The candidate that wins is going to pay attention to the numbers of people who did not vote for him and say, “where’s my greatest threat to lose the next election?” What I’m saying in our riding is that if you are Green, vote Green. There is simply too large a numbers spread to make certain that the Cons are going to get dumped. While Mr. Weston and I have philosophical differences, he is accessible and I have a great deal of respect for him. He’s running for the wrong party.

The problem I have with the Liberals is that they feel they are entitled to power because the massive shift in consciousness that we need right NOW has not happened yet. They still believe that they can win this election based on ethics alone. That is why they concentrate so much on “integrity” and don’t concentrate on policy, ideas, hopes, possibilities. To vote Liberal is to vote for Conservative; they are two sides of the same coin, they both believe they are entitled to power.

The Greens must keep up the pressure on the system to push us all in the right direction. That direction is a low energy future with conservation as the top priority. It means concentrating on healthy and bonded communities… these are things people are going to do regardless of the insanity of our currently and soon to be elected leaders. The work is in our hands regardless of the larger infrastructure that is working against us in all ways by continuing to advance a false and deadly narrative of economic growth on a limited planet resulting in climate change and the compromise of our better chances. If the Greens in this riding came in second I guarantee Mr. Weston would pay attention.

Again, simply look at the numbers from the last election and realize that there is no spread between the NDP and Greens, and a massive spread between the Liberals and Conservatives.

In the last election the only party that increased its vote share was the Green Party. We have to rely upon the rest of the country to do their job of getting rid of Mr. Harper, but in our riding of WV-SC-S2S, we have a completely different job to do.

I’d be open to being convinced of something different so please let me know your thoughts.  Making a group decision to spread the word is also important, but our networks only reach so far in a short period of time. Someone would have to have such sway over West Vancouver that they’d have to be on the order of a messiah to swing the West Vancouver vote. Mr. Weston has suggested that he wants to see more Federal seats in BC and I assume that means splitting the riding – it would certainly make his job easier in West Vancouver because the bulk of Conservative opposition is on the Sunshine Coast and Sea-to-Sky Country.

There is not going to be radical change in our riding in this election (in the country, perhaps, but not in the riding). I have to insist, Vote Green.

Brennan WAUTERS

Green Party of Canada Candidate, West Vancouver – Sunshine Coast – Sea to Sky Country
brennanwauters@gmail.com
brennan.wauters@greenparty.ca
604 727 4694
Twitter: @brennanwauters
www.brennanwauters.ca
www.greenparty.ca
The Riding: http://tiny.cc/p1szb

To see more about Brennan:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=question&id=205373786158583

Brennan has been endorsed by Alexandra Morton, Save Wild Salmon:

http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/alexandra_morton/2011/04/lets-get-it-together.html

Brennan has been endorsed by Ziya Tong, Daily Planet:

http://www.brennanwauters.ca/2011/05/ziya-tong-host-of-daily-planet-endorses-brennan-wauters-for-wv-sc-s2s/

And more news articles with references to Brennan:

You can view the Candidate debate in Sechelt at this link

http://greentreemedia.ca/2011/04/sechelt-candidate-debate-2011/

http://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/pique/index.php?cat=C_News&content=All+candidates+meeting+1817

http://www.coastreporter.net/article/20110422/SECHELT0101/304229978/-1/sechelt/candidates-battle-for-votes

http://www.coastreporter.net/article/20110422/SECHELT0101/304229980/-1/sechelt/candidates-address-variety-of-issues

http://www.coastreporter.net/article/20110422/SECHELT0101/304229982/-1/sechelt/candidates-questioned-on-the-issues

I have known Brennan Wauters since our school days at McGill University. There are few people in the world who show such passion and thoughtful commitment toward creating environmental change. I believe that Brennan will be a dedicated spokesperson for the people of West Vancouver, Sea to Sky Country and the Sunshine Coast and support his effort to become a modern voice in Parliament.

Ziya Tong
Host, Daily Planet, Discovery Channel

Brennan has been endorsed by Alexandra Morton, Save Wild Salmon:

http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/alexandra_morton/2011/04/lets-get-it-together.html

This story seems very a propos for this election and should be read; comes from a supporter in the riding:

While walking down the street one day a “Member of Parliament” is tragically hit by a truck and dies.

His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.
‘Welcome to heaven,’ says St. Peter.

‘Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high officials around these parts, you see, so we’re not sure what to do with you. ‘

‘No problem, just let me in,’ says the man.

‘Well, I’d like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we’ll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity. ‘

‘Really, I’ve made up my mind. I want to be in heaven,’ says the MP.

‘I’m sorry, but we have our rules. ‘

And, with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.

Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.

They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne.

Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly & nice guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises….

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him.

‘Now it’s time to visit heaven.’

So, 24 hours pass with the MP joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

‘Well, then, you’ve spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity.’

The MP reflects for a minute, then he answers: ‘Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell.’

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

Now the doors of the elevator open and he’s in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.

He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder.

‘I don’t understand,’ stammers the MP, ‘Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there’s just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable.
What happened?’

The devil looks at him, smiles and says, ‘Yesterday, we were campaigning.
Today, you voted.’

Green Party of Canada position on Commercial seal hunt:

The seal hunt is viewed by many people in Canada, and abroad, as an inhumane activity that is ecologically unsound and unsustainable. This is particularly true now that climate change has increased

pup mortality in spring due to thin ice and/or a lack of ice. The annual seal hunt is the largest killing of marine mammals anywhere on the planet. Its enormity threatens Canada’s overseas reputation for little local value. The Green Party does not support the current industrial, commercial seal hunt in Canada. We are not opposed to subsistence hunting by Aboriginal peoples and local communities. However, we consider seal hunting, like whaling, to be a threat to the marine ecosystem. The loss of ice due to climate change threatens seal populations and exacerbates what many believe is an already unsustainable level of hunting:

Green Party MPs will:

• End federal assistance to the commercial seal hunt and support an end to the seal hunt.
• Work with fishermen, fisheries unions and local communities to develop a fair federal buyout of sealing licenses.
• Work with local communities affected to implement training programs and other resources needed to enhance a sealing industry buyout.
• Work with other levels of government to find sustainable economic alternatives for sealers and their communities, and provide full compensation to sealers for lost income.

I want to take up Mr. Lagasse’s proposal that any MP that is elected to office cut their salary to that of a soldier. I am going to accept Mr. Lagasse’s proposal, but with a qualifying condition. I will accept the wage of a sitting MP and will distribute that wage in the riding for specific projects of my choosing. Meaning I will accept the wage, but provide funding to riding groups and projects up to the amount a soldier makes. That means, distribute my wage to specific projects in the riding. In this way I take up Mr. Lagasse’s offer while making certain any money received gets put back into the riding itself. I know that this money will be well worth providing to specific important projects in the riding that will have lasting benefits for all.