Ecology watchdog will run for Greens
Ontario’s longtime environmental watchdog, Gord Miller, will run for the Green Party in Guelph in the next federal election, in the hope of taking his record as a staunch ecological critic to the House of Commons.
Miller, who this week ended his 15year run as Ontario Environment Commissioner, told the Star he’s running to be a voice of conscience in Parliament, which has become too accustomed to limited debates, omnibus bills and a bitumen-fuelled economy.
“We have to have the voices in Parliament that speak for a different kind of Canada and a different agenda that will not only improve the environmental situation, but also put Canada back on the right footing to become a prosperous nation,” he said.
Miller will formally announce his run in Guelph on Wednesday.
“He’s just absolutely the ideal Green Party candidate,” said Green Party leader Elizabeth May. “He’s shown no partiality and had tremendous integrity through his whole career.”
As environment commissioner, Miller issued strongly worded reports annually, calling the province to account on its environmental commitments. Starting in 2008, he added reports on greenhouse gas emissions and energy conservation.
This won’t be Miller’s first attempt to win elected office; in 1995, he ran provincially for the Progressive Conservatives in Cochrane South. Two years later, he ran in Nipissing for the federal PCs.
Miller says the Conservatives have abandoned not only the environment but also basic democracy.
“What’s happening in Parliament is a worn-out party with a majority is fundamentally changing the way this country is run and I’m not pleased with it,” he said. “The Green Party very much stands for the kind of ‘small c’ conservative values that the former PC party captured at one time.”
Miller is considered a star candidate who has the Green Party “very excited” about their chances in Guelph — the most sustainable city in the province, said Ontario Green Party leader Mike Schreiner.
“He’s highly respected by people across the political spectrum, both inside and outside government,” Schreiner said.
Guelph, where Schreiner won 19 per cent of the vote in the provincial election last year, is considered a winnable riding by the Greens. Federally, Green candidate Mike Nagy won 21 per cent of the vote there in 2008.
The Green Party recently won seats in P.E.I., where provincial leader Peter Bevan-Baker knocked off Liberal cabinet minister Valerie Docherty, and in New Brunswick, where David Coon became their first MLA in the province.