Greens sprout anew

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by George Maddux

At a press conference attended by several levels of the food chain last Saturday, the Green Party of Quebec was born again. Amid the fish, fowl and other assorted mammals present at the Biodôme the newest incarnation of the Greens declared their intention to run candidates throughout the province for the next election. Their new leader is one Richard Savignac, an ecologist at the Biodôme and a faithful Green Party member for 15 of his 33 years. Savignac impressed many by finishing third in Mercier in the last federal election.

The Greens were off the ballot provincially in the last go-round because its old leaders had quit to join the Parti Québécois. "The guys who took a chance with the PQ were disappointed," says party representative Daniel Breton. The new Greens, he adds, belong to a younger generation and several have already proven their mettle by snubbing standing invitations to join the provincial Liberals.

The Green platform, explains Breton, is based on interdependence. For example, gambling should be considered not just as a boost to the government coffers but rather within the wider sphere of its health and poverty consequences. The Greens also demand such reforms as proportional representation, a more thorough debate of budgets, elections at fixed intervals, guaranteed minimum incomes, shorter work weeks, relaxed party discipline, eased access to alternative medicine and an increased consciousness of international affairs.

As the provincial Greens still only consist of 30 members, now is the chance to in on the ground floor. Check out www.partivertquebec.org or call 642-5798 to join.