Kristina Calhoun will represent the Green Party in Riverdale North.
As such, she’s a trailblazer - the party’s first territorial candidate.
“We are considering living within our ecological means,” said Calhoun, the party’s organizer and interim co-leader, explaining the party line.
“It’s just common sense. The environment is what supports everything else. It supports the economy. It supports social justice - if we don’t ensure that the progress that we make is sustainable and compatible with maintaining a functional environment, then we’re really just killing ourselves, or degrading our ability to benefit from our own resources.”
Her remarks echoed David Suzuki’s speaking notes from his Whitehorse visit on July 29.
The Canadian scientist warned if we continue to use more than the Earth can supply, we risk killing the planet and ourselves.
All who heed his words now have a territorial party to vote for in this upcoming election, said Calhoun.
But, for the moment, only if you live in Riverdale North.
The party has yet to announce any other candidates.
It has no published platform - apart from the vague and sweeping “Charter of Global Greens.”
And it doesn’t even have a website.
The party, which was registered on February 28, has about 200 “contacts,” said Calhoun.
She couldn’t say how many registered members it has.
But they need at least two candidates to remain a registered party with Elections Yukon.
So far, Calhoun is the only one to put her name forward.
John Streicker, local climate change scientist and chair of the federal Green Party, has no plans to run for any territorial party.
“National parties and territorial parties are distinct,” he said. “So we’re separate entities. But we support the principles of the territorial Green Party - the idea of thinking long-term and developing a sustainable future, especially around governance.”
And Yukoners don’t have to be worried about vote-splitting if they wish to vote Green this election, said Calhoun.
Greens aren’t left or right, she said.
“That’s a public misconception that we really need to work at re-educating,” she said. “We’re neither. We’re not right or left - it’s really just about bringing things to the centre and bringing everything on one track and not being extreme to one side or the other, but just being very focused and being very centered and basing everything on common sense and long-term goals.”
The goal for this election is to get one or two candidates into the legislature, said Calhoun.
“So that we can be a green, guiding hand for policies and policy development,” she said. “To ensure ... they are going to be beneficial for, not only the economy, but also for the people of the Yukon and also for the environment.”
Asked whether he is endorsing Calhoun, Streicker noted she wasn’t running in his riding.
But she’s a “sincere” and “well-intentioned” candidate, he said.
In the end, it’s up to Yukoners to determine what they want, he said.
“Ultimately, it’s up to the voters to decide whether or not they want to see an extra party, or not, and which parties they want to see,” he said.
“But you have to put those choices in front of people, I think.”
Contact Roxanne Stasyszyn at
roxannes@yukon-news.com