Living in the real world of climate change

In my quest for the last ten signatures on my nomination papers (if you’d like to support me, and you’re a member of the Liberal Party of Canada, click on Nomination Form; if you’re not yet a member, it costs $10 at Membership Forms), I was talking in Penticton with a smart young local winemaker. She told me her biggest single political concern was that the federal government was not addressing environmental issues. We talked about our glorious dryland environment, and the care it took to grow grapes and grasses, and to keep the land healthy. We talked about the warming of the earth. We talked about our responsibilities, to her children and to my grandchildren.

I came home and looked up what the Prime Minister had to say:
“Kyoto is essentially a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations. . . . It focuses on carbon dioxide, which is essential to life, rather than upon pollutants.”
Minister Day has joked:
“Maybe all my constituents living high up on the West Bench, or Lakeview Heights, or the hills of Logan Lake will soon be sitting on lakeside property as one of the many benefits of global warming”.

Here in the dry Interior of BC we know differently. We live in, we see and feel the changes, and we’re concerned. We are concerned about the masses of dead pine trees and the millions of hectares of dead timber to be fuel for the fires to come, we’re concerned about groundwater and snowpack and our rivers, we see grapes being grown farther and farther north. Because we know these things right here and right now, we feel them strongly. Instead of being a voice of denial, we want to talk out loud about the coming storms.

The data is undeniable – humans are putting carbon into the atmosphere at a rate which is causing systemic changes in climate systems. We are all aware of that. If we kept business accounts for the planet, it would be clear that we’ve been stripping assets off the balance sheet for years to pad the income statement. We convince ourselves we’re getting richer every day by consuming the wealth around us. It’s like being in England during the second world war, burning the furniture to keep warm.

It’s past the time we chose different paths, to reduce net carbon emissions worldwide, and to adapt to and mitigate the damage from the changes that are already inevitable. Canadians should be among the leaders in looking for solutions – because of our climate and geography, we use more energy per person than any other country in the world. And the solutions we come up with – despite what you hear from the moneyed classes that we can’t compete with Americans – will be among the best in the world. We are smart tough people, and we’ve been dealing with hard problems since we began this country here in the frozen north. Our government needs to encourage this, not to write it off because they think it may cost us a half-point of GDP growth from the tarsands. For example, without changing laws or regulations or taxes, but just by changing its buying practices, the federal government can shift demand away from carbon and provide critical new demand to home-grown suppliers to produce all sorts of useful technologies and products.

We are all good people at heart. We know we cannot disclaim our responsibilities towards our neighbours, or to people far away. No matter what we do or how hard we work, no matter what “solutions” may be found, we know that over the next sixty to eighty years tens of millions of people will be displaced by rising water; they will move to places where tens of millions of people already live. It’s happening now – the inhabitants of the Maldive Islands are trying to buy a new homeland, because theirs will be underwater soon – and it’s not going to get better. What are going to be worldwide strategies for adaptation and mitigation? How can we best assist with formulating them? What can individuals do alone and in our communities?

We, with our direct experience and felt sense of the changes, can add a sense of importance and urgency to these things. Our nation has become an international joke – a repeat winner of the Dinosaur Award. We used to have reasons to feel proud out there in the world, rather than being a bit ashamed. Never before could anyone be embarrassed simply by being Canadian.

From right here where it’s happening, we can lead discussions and policy choices nationally, take such action locally as we can and must, and help Canada regain its place among the progressive nations of the world.


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Please feel free and encouraged to add comments in the boxes below and forward to anyone you feel would be interested in this dialogue.

With gratitude,

John

Up and Running

Welcome ~

John Sidney Kidder is my name (please call me John).

I am seeking support to win the Liberal nomination for the federal riding of Okanagan - Coquihalla. With less than a week to sign up memberships to the Liberal party and then to join me at the nomination meeting expected on Tuesday, March 15th, I need your help today. If you, family, friends or colleagues from the riding would like to help nominate me by joining the Liberal Party to renew or to begin a new membership, please click on Membership. Then please carry on to my Nomination form to nominate me.

I am opposed to many of the directions our government is taking. In almost every policy decision, I see our government tending towards secrecy rather than openness, division rather than inclusion, authority rather than freedom, private interests rather than public. I see ideologically-based political tactics intended to ensure electoral success, rather than a strategy for sound government. I want to be a part of replacing this government with one that better reflects Canada and Canadians.

Many people have asked "Why would you run against Stockwell Day, a sitting minister - you are bound to lose"? I answer: because I can, and because I have a clear focused strategy to defeat him in two elections. When I do, I will serve and represent my constituents in parliament with strong determination, clear policy decisions and passionate drive. I will do this work with kindness, goodness and great care, holding the personal, business and community needs of others as my first order of business.

I was born in the North, grew up in the East and came of age in the West. I have been privileged to live, be educated and work all across this country. My father was a Progressive Conservative miner, my mother was a CCF/NDP history teacher, so I come by my centrist Liberal roots honestly. We moved often from towns to mining camps to cities - since I was young I have felt a great loyalty to all of Canada, and have aspired to the honour serving as an MP would bring.

My background makes me familiar with much of the country, and helps me to be understanding of and sympathetic to many Canadian issues. My French is no longer perfect, but will come back with practice. My many jobs and careers help me to hear clearly and talk openly with people from all walks of life. From businessman to bureaucrat, from working cowboy to software developer, as fish plant worker, governance expert, technology pioneer and folk festival director, I have done and loved them all. I have helped individuals and agencies reach consensus on complex issues of environment and land use, and on contentious matters in both community and political organizations – these confirm my desire and my abilities to be engaged in constituency work and policy development. My education is broad and deep; years of university and graduate study, and more informal and self-taught. I have been a member of the Liberal party of Canada since 1980, and have found great pleasure in working on many federal and provincial campaigns and leadership races for some of our country’s finest men and women.

I am a son, eldest brother to five siblings, uncle to many, father of three grown children, grandfather of three. I was married for 32 years to my wife Siri, who died from cancer in 2009. In my spare time I read, write, ride, play guitars and sing, and maintain 10 acres at Ashcroft in the dry interior of BC.

I believe that it is the duty of every citizen to do what he or she can to contribute to the public good within the capacity each holds to do so. Each of us makes a contribution in our way - when we raise our children with a sense of what is right and wrong, when we are fair and open in our work and recreation, when we care for family, neighbours and friends in time of need, when we volunteer our resources for community events and organizations, and when we study our options and make choices about our governments and their representatives. Our actions affect the society we live in. And whether it's a full-time job, a lifetime dedication, or simply the criteria we use when choosing a course of action, we all have a responsibility to do our work as citizens. Our civil society and our democracy rests on us taking that duty seriously.

It would be an honour to be a Member of the House of Commons of Canada. The House, in government or opposition, is at this time in my life the best place for me to use the skills I have worked to build. Although I have not yet held elected office, I have trained for this job - travelled, studied, talked, listened and worked at it for years. I have done my homework. Now, the essential public trust between government and citizens is suffering. There is an urgent need for action to help restore integrity where it is lacking. Especially now, I know I can be of real assistance.

I know I would make a true, thoughtful and lasting contribution to our country. I have always kept the public good front and centre, and have tried to live to the highest possible personal and political ethical standards. I will continue to do so for the rest of my days. “Home training will tell”, my mother used to say. I couldn't do it any other way.

I would be delighted to speak with any members of the riding who may be able to assist.

With gratitude,

John

T 250.453.9590
M 604.626.8184
E kidder@telus.net
F Facebook

The Okanagan-Coquihalla electoral district includes Okanagan Falls, Penticton, Merritt, Summerland, Logan Lake, West Kelowna and Peachland and the surrounding areas. Click Electoral District Map for a map of the riding.

Party Membership on-line registration: Membership Forms
Nomination Forms: Nomination Form

For information regarding the Okanagan-Coquihalla Federal Liberal Electoral District Association, please contact Christine Elder, Membership Chair, at elderhudson@shaw.ca, or on 250.494.8548.