. . . from the Eric Walton Campaign

April 29, 2011: Green Party Not Endorsing NDP
April 26, 2011: Strategic Voting Counter-Productive
April 9, 2011: Evidence-Based Prison Reform
March 31, 2011: A Streetcar Named Sustainability
March 28, 2011: Kingston Can Become a Local Food System Powerhouse
March 8, 2011: No Campaign Lawn Signs Along Roads Proposal

April 29th, 2011: Green Party Not Endorsing NDP

Green Party Not Endorsing NDP

Kingston & Green Party candidate Eric Walton expressed his extreme disappointment that NDP Campaign Manager, Jamie Masse, has publicly misrepresented Green Party’s position on preference voting as support for the NDP. Nothing could be further from the truth.
- Only Greens have a serious climate change strategy.
- Only Greens will follow through with a nuclear power phaseout.
- Only Greens will advance a healthy environment and a healthy economy at the same time.
- Only Greens will bring the real change we need to Parliament.
A strategic vote for the NDP could help the Conservatives win as much as a strategic vote for the Liberals could help the Conservatives win. Both are dangerous as well as corrosive to creating a Parliament with the best representatives. Preference voting is the smartest course of action in Kingston and is imperative for democracy.

For more information please contact Eric Walton at: 613-531-3691 or info@ericwalton.ca

April 26th, 2011: Strategic Voting Counter-Productive

Strategic Voting Counter-Productive

Kingston & Green Party candidate Eric Walton believes Kingston & The Islands is set for an historic vote on May 2nd. The NDP surge in popular vote means that the Liberals are no longer the default option for some Kingston & The Islands Green and NDP voters who were prepared to hold their noses and vote tactically – also known as negative or strategic voting – to prevent a Conservative win. A strategic vote could now just as easily backfire and achieve the opposite of the desired outcome. Preference voting is now the only safe choice to ensure the best result.

“Strategic voting is also corrosive to voter turnout rates because it is hardly appealing to vote for the lesser of two poor choices” commented Green Party Candidate Eric Walton, adding “low voter turnout helps the Conservatives who can pull out their core vote strongly. This reminds us of the importance of voting with our heart and head for the candidate we prefer.”

Preference voting refers to voting for one’s preferred candidate and platform. Consistently applied over time, this voting approach helps to strengthen the democratic process, elects the best people to Parliament. It overcomes a historic pattern of alternating mediocre governments that fail to meet critical challenges like high child poverty rates, weak climate change programs, and low economic productivity.

Internal Green Party polling and statistics from deliberation.ca suggest that up to 18,000 individuals in Kingston & The Islands are undecided. This augurs well for a preference voting election outcome.

For more information please contact Eric Walton at: 613-531-3691 or info@ericwalton.ca

April 9th, 2011: Evidence-Based Prison Reform

Sustainability For Kingston Includes Evidence-Based Prison Reform

Kingston & The Islands Green Party Candidate Eric Walton is calling for a sea change in the federal government’s current approach to prison reform. Correctional Service Canada has 8 federal institutions in the greater Kingston area. The Conservative government’s controversial “Roadmap” reform agenda has already led to the closure of the Prison Farm Programs. “Prison reform is certainly needed, given the level of violence in today’s prisons, but it is critical that we approach this reform process from an evidence-based perspective and not an ideological one.” commented Mr Walton, adding “We simply cannot afford to repeat the mistakes made in the U.S. that have had such profoundly negative social and financial consequences.”

In Canada’s prison system, released prisoners have substantially lower repeat offense rates than in the U.S., where incarceration focuses more on punishment than rehabilitation. As a result, U.S. inmate populations have ballooned to the point where the U.S. has 25% of the world prison population despite having less than 5% of the world population. In 2008/2009 it cost the Canadian government $323 a day ($117,700 a year) to house a federal inmate. There are approximately 14,000 inmates in federal custody.

Mr. Walton commented “We need a far more innovative approach to prison reform. There is no reason why we cannot simultaneously enhance programs and security to reduce violence within prisons and significantly upgrade rehabilitation opportunities and mental health services.” The Green Party would re-open and upgrade the Prison Farm Program to a state-of-the art organic and renewable energy operation and work closely with the local farming community to develop additional opportunities for collaboration.

A core component of sustainability is the principle of equity wherein a community ensures fairness and provides opportunities for all its members, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable. As a community we have everything to gain by embracing a progressive prison reform agenda – even as the future social benefits extend far beyond City limits.

For more information please contact Eric Walton at: 613-531-3691 or info@ericwalton.ca



March 28th, 2011: A Streetcar Named Sustainability

A Sustainable Streetcar for a Sustainable City

Local Kingston & The Islands Green Party candidate Eric Walton applauds the City of Kingston’s goal to become Canada’s most sustainable city, notwithstanding a recent report that shows Kingston currently has Canada’s highest carbon dioxide emissions per capita for automobile use.

“This is a challenge we can meet head on given our community’s unique capacities. It is also a great opportunity to create high quality new jobs and a profitable project consulting service to be provided to other cities in the future” commented Walton, adding “We also know that as many Canadian cities expand over time they develop the longest average commuting times in the world, producing air pollution and productivity-sapping congestion. Here is a chance to break that pattern for Kingston before it is too late”.

The solution proposed by the local Green Party candidate is to develop an economical small-city version of a low-floor streetcar public transit system that would be coupled to the current bus transit program. Two lines would be developed in two project stages with later extension lines added according to feasibility. The first “L” line would run from The Kingston Centre and down Princess Street, turning at Bagot Street and going through Queen’s University along Union Street and on to St Lawrence College. This line would be a key stimulus for much needed re-development of upper Princess Street. It would stimulate – as it has in other cities – quality mid-rise development and an increased municipal property tax stream without the high servicing and infrastructure costs of suburban sprawl.

A second “Cataraqui River” line would connect to the ”L” line at Bagot Street and cross the river on the proposed Third Crossing of the Cataraqui River. It would then loop through existing development and a future “linear” urban development pattern east of the city that would preserve significant green space for public enjoyment.

Walton added “The challenge in such a project is to make it financially feasible. This is where financial support from the federal and provincial government, new technical streetcar innovations from a nearby partner in Bombardier Transportation, and planning expertise from Queen’s University and the City of Kingston can make the numbers work. The first step is to adopt an entrepreneurial approach – to look for ways to make it work and not for reasons why it cannot. We cannot win the prize of most sustainable city if we are not also the most entrepreneurial – in social policy, in economic renewal, in support for the Arts, and in environmental protection.”

For more information please contact Eric Walton at: 613-531-3691 or info@ericwalton.ca



March 28, 2011: Local Food System Powerhouse

Kingston Can Become a Local Food System Powerhouse

The development of a large-scale local and organic food-growing, marketing and distribution system in the greater Kingston Area would create thousands of new jobs and also re-circulate disposable income now leaving the Kingston economy. It would help improve health and quality-of-life. It would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by substituting some foods currently transported over long distances with foods produced locally.

The Green Party of Canada has proposed a series of innovative programs to accelerate the growth of local and organic food systems nationwide. Some of the proposed measures include:

• establishing federally-funded, community-guided school lunch programs across Canada to ensure that our children have daily access to healthy local food and can learn about sustainable food production and healthy eating
• providing transitional assistance for those switching to certified organic farming practices
• encouraging farming methods that increase carbon sequestration and decrease water requirements
• ensuring the quality and wholesomeness of food by strengthening the monitoring of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, growth hormones, non-therapeutic antibiotics and insecticides in food production, processing and storage, with the goal of an orderly reduction in detectable residues until they reach undetectable limits

Green Party candidate Eric Walton commented on Kingston’s special advantage in significantly expanding the local food system, “We have a large number of government institutions in our community. Given the right policy design and transitional funding from Ottawa, they could provide direct early support to the development of a significant local food system”. Walton emphasizes that this policy, his streetcar proposal and other Green Party initiatives, advance quality-of-life, environmental protection and job creation, making Kingston a more sustainable place to live.

For more information please contact Eric Walton at: 613-531-3691 or info@ericwalton.ca

March 8th, 2011: No Campaign Lawn Signs Along Roads Proposal

Local Greens Propose Multi-Party Agreement To Ban Election Campaign Lawn Signs on Public Roads

Kingston & The Islands Green Party will once again not be placing election lawn signs along public roads in the next federal election. Signs will only be distributed to Green Party supporters who request one for their home or business property.

Local federal Green Party candidate, Eric Walton, explained the reasoning behind this self-imposed restriction. “A proliferating sign war between local political parties proves nothing except who has the least concern for visual pollution, wasted resources, and the tolerance level of voters. We have just had a municipal election and there will be a provincial election in the fall. The least we can do federally is to show some self-restraint – especially when you consider that signs along public roads do not represent real political support, just a manufactured impression of support.”

In the winter 2006 federal election, all local political parties except the Kingston & The Islands Conservative Party agreed to the Green Party proposal to limit lawns signs to the property of their own supporters. Kingston Greens hope that other local political candidates will once again join them in with a new lawn sign agreement that more accurately reflects voter support while simultaneously minimizing pollution.

For more information please contact Eric Walton at: 613-531-3691 or info@ericwalton.ca