ELLIOTT WORKS FOR THE EARTH
Advocate has been vocal on social and environmental issues such as cycling, pesticides and waste since the 1980s
The environment means a lot to Jim Elliott. After all, he’s dedicated most of his life to it. “I look at it as being kind of colloquially called Mother Earth or Gaia or however anybody calls it in the sense of this is what sustains us on this planet,” said Elliott, who has been an active community member, environmentalist and political candidate in the city for decades. “I want to help both myself as well as others retool or reshape our life on the planet so that we’re not putting as much in peril as we currently are,” he said. Elliott may be speaking globally, but he has certainly acted locally. Searching his name in the Leader-post’s archives yields articles dating back to the 1980s. Ask Elliott for what types of causes he was fighting back in the day, and you’ll hear about local issues that are still being actively discussed. In the early 1990s, he was on the parks and recreation board when there was a campaign to stop the use of pesticides and herbicides in the city’s parks. During that same time period, Elliott was involved in a push for bike lanes in the city, and sat on a task force that looked at waste management. He also ran a recycling centre in the Cathedral neighbourhood for five years. Many of these issues are still hot topics today, and that’s why Reginans are likely familiar with Elliott’s name appearing on their ballots during municipal elections. Elliott has run for mayor in the last three elections out of a desire to see Regina push forward on issues that are dear to him. “Things aren’t moving fast enough in what I think are in the sense of social and environmental justice types of things, so I think with more of a progressive mayor in place, I think we could easily be marshalling a lot more of that going forward,” said Elliott. To understand where Elliott’s drive comes from, one must go all the way back to his childhood in Grenfell, which is located approximately 131 kilometres east of Regina. Elliott was raised in a home where working in the community was a part of life. His father Ernie coached hockey and his mother Ellen was involved in local craft and knitting groups. Growing up in the country and having a large backyard helped nurture Elliott’s fascination with nature during his childhood. Behind his home was a quarter section of land that he described as being “basically bush.” Elliott would explore that green space, checking in on the various bird feeders his family kept there. One part of Elliott’s childhood that might come as a surprise is the fact that his father was a general foreman for Trans-canada Pipelines. The family lived in a bungalow at a little housing compound at the pumping station just south of the town. During university, Elliott worked summer jobs for the company doing painting and lawn mowing. At that time, Elliott said he didn’t question the use of pipelines. He knew people needed natural gas, and that was the method used to transport it. The thought of pipelines breaking, or explosions, wasn’t there.
“I didn’t necessarily see a direct connection to or see the impacts that some of what is now happening around the pipelines,” said Elliott. As the public discourse around pipelines has evolved, so have Elliott’s own feelings. He has openly criticized the Energy East Export pipeline, and wants to see urban centres transition away from gasoline to electric vehicles. Elliott made the jump himself a long time ago, having not owned a car since 1985. He gets around on his bike, but still maintains a driver’s license for the occasional time he needs to rent a vehicle. Elliott first moved to Regina in 1973 to attend university, where he completed a bachelor of science in ecology. He returned to Regina around 1985, after working at the Indian Head tree nursery as a soil and irrigation technician, and has been here ever since. Elliott can’t recall too many years of not being involved in some form of community association or board. “It’s just kind of almost second nature to some extent to be engaged in the community, to be involved,” said Elliott. Joanne Havelock has known Elliott since the 1980s and describes him as a very principled person. Things like cycling are more popular now, but Havelock can remember when Elliott was riding his bike everywhere at a time when very few people were doing the same. Even if some didn’t approve of his actions, Havelock said Elliott carried on because he believed it was the right thing to do. “He’s not protesting for the sake of protest. He’s got goals in mind for the city or for the environment, and he works towards those goals. So I think it’s really important to have someone that has principles and sticks to them and works towards them,” said Havelock. While Elliott may be dissatisfied with the city’s progress on some issues, one thing you won’t detect while speaking to him is anger or cynicism. He speaks calmly, even when describing a lack of movement on issues about which he clearly cares. “He’s also very kind. You rarely hear him say anything mean or nasty about anyone,” said Havelock. Elliott’s community involvement has segued into the political realm. In 2003, he ran for city council in Ward 6, and did so again in 2006. He was not successful in either attempt. What drove Elliott to throw his hat into the ring? He called it a natural progression. Elliott was actively involved in committees and was making presentations to city council. He eventually asked himself why he couldn’t be the city councillor listening to those presentations. Feeling he had at least as much knowledge and experience as the people on city council, Elliott decided to make the leap. “I thought there was value to being engaged as much as one could with how things eventually ended up,” said Elliott. In 2009, Elliott kicked his political ambitions up a notch with a run for mayor. He was among three candidates, the other two being Pat Fiacco and Linda White. Fiacco was re-elected to a fourth term with 30,093 votes. Elliott came in a distant second with 4,225. Elliott said he decided to enter the race because of a lack of alternative candidates to Fiacco. “A lot of questions didn’t seem to be getting answered or alternatives reviewed as much as I thought they should be,” said Elliott. Elliott ran again in the 2012 mayoral race when there were an abundance of candidates, following Fiacco’s announcement that he would not seek re-election. With a vote that was split nine ways, Elliott only managed to capture 481 votes. Despite there being so many candidates, Elliott said he still wanted to run because he felt issues Regina should be tackling, such as the environment, housing and poverty, were still not being brought forward.
His third attempt in 2016 resulted in a third-place finish with 3,306 votes. Michael Fougere was re-elected with 24,992 votes. When asked if he ever gets discouraged about not winning elections, Elliott said part of his motivation is simply to bring up issues he feels are important. “Part of it is also just a matter of trying to open the dialogue from very much a status quo to one that looks for making things better maybe in a big-step way, rather than necessarily simply incremental,” said Elliott. Elliott said he’ll probably run in this year’s municipal election, which is set for Nov. 9. He still has issues with how the role of mayor has been handled by the most recent two incumbents. “I think the role of mayor definitely has a leadership role to it and not simply just being one of council. And in that sense, I think that’s lacking in our current mayor, and even in some respects with Mayor Fiacco was that he didn’t seem to be moving in the direction that I thought both society as well as the broader public were moving,” said Elliott. Elliott’s persistence is what makes him special according to Dale Hjertaas, who met Elliott at a Nature Saskatchewan event back in the 1970s. “Many of us get discouraged and can’t sustain that energy year after year. Somehow Jim has the energy and desire to keep on being an activist and being active in organizations and addressing issues,” said Hjertaas. Elliott’s list of community involvement these days includes chairing the Al Ritchie Community Association, sitting on the Arcola School community council, editing the newsletter for Nature Regina and giving historical walking tours around Wascana Lake. He’s also the head of the Regina chapter for the Council of Canadians. Elliott is slowing down a bit with his activism work. He’s starting to focus more on helping others and facilitating connections between people on the front lines. “Now I’m doing more on the thinking and helping and supporting role rather than necessarily being physically involved as I had been in the past,” said Elliott. Elliott now considers himself semi-retired. His involvement with environmental issues has changed, but he still cares. One thing he has also maintained is his love of nature. Just like in his childhood, Elliott has a backyard filled with it. He has planted saskatoons, roses and various other trees and flowers. His back alley is not well lit, giving him a clear view of the stars at night. If he’s lucky, he can sometimes see a comet streaking across the sky.