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Revitalizing democracy
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
On April 13th, I will be stepping down as President & CEO of the Barrie Green Party after almost 6 years. If I were the President of the US, that’d be a term and a half. Alas, I’m a volunteer President, and so after 6 years it is time to move on.
I leave behind a legacy of democracy. When I held my first Annual General Meeting in 2009, we could barely make quorum. Over the years we’ve completely replaced the constitution with one that works much better for us, and not only do we meet quorum at our AGM’s, we exceed it. Simple things such has having a speaker, and sometimes Green Party of Ontario leader Mike Schreiner help bring out members, friends, and supporters. One change we made in 2014 was moving the meeting from January, to April, where we can promote it at our annual Earth Hour activities.
This year we present Sandra Holdsworth, a presenter with the Trillium Gift of Life Network who will be speaking on organ donation. Sandra herself is from the Simcoe/Muskoka area, being a local native herself.
I’ve always felt it was the President’s job to protect democracy within the Electoral District Association. I always claimed the AGM as mine, my event to organize, and invite the members to. To ensure it is not only held, but that anyone who wants to attend can. I also moved it from a boring evening during the week to a Sunday afternoon at the Barrie Public Library, where notably, the room is free.
The new President of course will be able to chart their own course, but I am proud of my 6 years, and I cannot wait for whatever window opens next.
“Second star to the right and straight on till morning.” – Captain Kirk, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
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Let’s dance again… by volunteering.
I like to keep active by volunteering. I find it gets me moving, the blood flowing, and I get to meet all sorts of amazing new people. This is especially true when I am the volunteer head of the organization. Two of which could really use your help.
In 2008, the Green Party of Canada, here in Barrie, had it’s best result ever, having a statistical tie with the NDP for third. Everyone was shocked. We couldn’t have done it without our volunteers. Three years later, we didn’t do so well. Why? We didn’t have as many volunteers. The Globe and Mail has actually come out and said that if we want to change how politics is done in Canada, citizens should join a political party and change it from the inside. I agree.
Coming up this July, the Green Party of Canada will hold it’s biennial general meeting in Fredricton, New Brunswick. In the Green Party, the only policies the leader is allowed to promote are the ones voted on by the members. It really is grassroots democracy. And you can be the change!
I’m also the volunteer head of another, non-political, non-profit, non-charity organization Journey to Diversity Workplaces.
J2DW was created because of a real desire for change — in our pocket books. To change the way we work, the way we treat each other, employees, managers, and co-workers, and to make life a little more stress-free. We want workplaces that are ethical, moral, and legal. No loophole searching.
J2DW as born this past December, but we still need a few good people to join the Board of Directors during the infancy of the organization to help us find out balance as we start to stand on our own two legs.
If you would like to volunteer for either of these two amazing organizations, please don’t hesitate to email me.
Neither of these two groups peak your interest? Email me anyway, and perhaps I can put you in touch with an organization that does.
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The gift of life
I have been a renal patient since the age of 6. I had chicken pox, and that lead my already diseased kidney’s
Kidney location after transplantation. Adapted from the original source to enlarge labels, and to fix a labelling error – “artery” and “vein” were transposed. See this discussion on the English Wikipedia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
to not work. So I went on peritoneal dialysis. Every night while I slept, I had dialysis at home. I was doing ok but I wasn’t doing great. When you’re that age, you don’t want to take your tums (yuck!), or eat if you don’t feel like it.
So at the age of 8 I had my first transplant at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (via the Ottawa General Hospital.) It was a great solution, I started eating more, and gaining weight. Unfortunately, I only had that transplant for five years. Fortunately, at the time you didn’t need to go back on dialysis to go on the transplant list, so a few months after I was placed on the list…
I got my second transplant. That was very fortunate, as I was in grade 6 at the time. Two years later I had to have a follow up surgery to repair the connection between my kidney and bladder. That kidney, thankfully, lasted 7 years. At this point my doctor’s started asking questions, mainly about why my kidney isn’t lasting the 10 – 20 years they expect.
I was born with Nephrotic Syndrome. You can click the link for more detail, but the laymen’s version is scarring on my kidney. The current theory is that this syndrome will continue to attack future kidney’s, meaning it’s possible I may only keep a kidney 5 – 10 years.
In 2002, I had my third transplant which also lasted 5 years. I am on the transplant list, to be one of a handful of people worldwide to have a fourth transplant, but so far I have been on the list for 7 years. I may have a long wait. Why? Due to the number of blood products (transfusions, transplants, etc) I have pretty much every antibody there is. So they are very careful which kidney they will match to me, to ensure it is a success.
This is why a living donor kidney would be most beneficial to me.
Living kidney donation has revolutionized kidney transplantation and many studies have confirmed the longer survival times for kidneys from a living donor. There are many other benefits of having a transplant from a living donor: (Source for this part.)
• Living donation eliminates the recipient’s need to wait for a transplant on the
waiting list.
• Short and long term survival rates are significantly better and provide a better outcome
than transplants from deceased donors. (On average approximately 20 years for a
kidney from a living donor, compared to 13 years for a kidney from a deceased donor).
• You know the donor, his/her lifestyle choices and history
• The kidneys almost always start functioning immediately, deceased donor kidneys can
take from a few days up to a few weeks to start functioning. (Recipient needs to return
to dialysis.)
• Shortens the waiting time for others on the waiting list
• An individuals health deteriorates the longer you are on dialysis
• A living kidney transplant doubles the life expectancy of the patient, compared to being
on dialysis.
• Kidney dialysis is very expensive. The payback for the initial cost for a transplant is one year, even after taking into effect the ongoing cost of anti-rejection drugs.
• You have time to plan for the transplant
• Waiting for a deceased donor can be very stressful.
• The surgery can be scheduled at a mutually-agreed upon time rather than performed as
an emergency operation.
• Perhaps the most important aspect of living donation is the psychological benefit. The
recipient can experience positive feelings knowing that the gift came from a loved one
or someone who cares for you. The donor experiences the satisfaction of knowing that
he or she has contributed to the improved health of the recipient.If you would like to know more, and/or be tested, you can contact Maureen Connelly, the Living Donor Coordinator, at St. Michael’s Hospital (Toronto’s urban Angel) at 416-867-3676. And if you’re not yet registered to be a donor after parting life, I encourage you to visit beadonor.ca
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post.
Peter Tretter
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Action needed!! Please help!
We need your help!
Last evening, Barrie Green Party President & CEO Peter Tretter, launched a petition. He is asking the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) to do something extraordinary.
‘
He wants RVH to stop buying styrofoam cups. Why? Well RVH doesn’t recycle them, and there are signs all over RVH stating the fact.So Peter is petitioning them to switch to paper cups, which can be recycled.
But Peter needs 100 signatures by Monday morning to get the attention of Hospital CEO Janice Skot, and RVH.
What do you need to do?
1. Sign the petition!
2. Share the petition on Facebook, Twitter, Google+
3. Tell your friends and family about the petition!Together we can end styrofoam cups at RVH!
Source: Barrie Green Party News.
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Living Green for today.
Picture of a residential block in South Barrie. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I have been involved with, and on the Board of a local charity for over four years. When I started, I felt I had a full plate, but they needed board members so I joined. Since then we’ve gone from an organization that did things on a project by project basis, to an organization that now has long term projects such as Off the Rack, and FruitShare. Of course this organization is Living Green Barrie (AKA Environmental Action Barrie).
Environmental Action Barrie has existed for over 25 years to bring the people of Barrie and surrounding communities together to learn about environmental issues, and to change habits in favour of environmentally – friendlier practices. We currently have ongoing eco-projects and we are always looking for volunteers. – Living Green Barrie
This past week, I was elected Chair of Barrie’s environmental charity. This is very different from anything I have done before. As President of the Barrie Green Party, the Executive is more collaborative, and flexible. With the Board of Living Green, everyone works well together, but there are certainly more strong personalities there. Both have their pros and cons. The beauty of this new challenge, as Chair of the Board for Living Green, is to 1) impartially chair board meetings, and 2) ensure the organization stays on track, and stays according to its mandate.
As President of the Barrie Green Party, I am an involved participant, despite the fact I chair the meetings of the Executive Board. I direct policy, and direction. But as Chair of Living Green, I don’t have control of anything. It’s a big contrast.
But at the end of the day, it’s all worth it. I know I am up for the challenge. With the Green Party I got us working with Robert’s Rules of Order to help streamline Executive meetings, and getting us to where we aren’t there all day, instead now we actually have a few small committees.
Hopefully with Living Green, we may get a few committees going, and be the charity Barrie deserves. We’re there, we just need to go the extra mile.
If you would like to join either the Board of Living Green, or the Green Party, email me!
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Reflections on a Green Century
I have been a Green Party member here in Canada since 2004. Most people know this story – I got involved because a friend of the time who was doing a Master’s program at Ottawa’s Carleton University was telling me about Green Party tax policy, and suggested we become a member. 7 years later and I don’t know if he’s still a member, but I’m the only one of us who got involved.
In the last 2 – 3 years, we have made major strides. Elizabeth May became our first Green MP in the Canadian House of Commons,
English: Green Party leader, Elizabeth May. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
representing Saanich–Gulf Islands in British Columbia. If you’ve never been to Victoria, BC you should really go. It’s such a beautiful area, and Elizabeth is lucky to represent it. Now this year we’ve earned a spot in British Columbia’s Legislative Assembly, with Andrew Weaver representing Oak Bay–Gordon Head.
This is truly exciting. Two elected Greens in Canada. Plus Adriane Carr on Vancouver City Council, where they do have municipal political parties. Sure we have other municipal elected officials, but unfortunately due to the non-partisan nature, they often go unrecognized.
So we truly are in the Green Century. The Green parties in Canada have evolved, and changed so much since I became a member in 2004. We’ve gotten better, higher quality leaders like Elizabeth May, and Mike Schreiner (leader of the Green Party of Ontario.) And higher quality candidates. This tells me that we will continue electing people, even under the antiquated first past the post system. And Fair Vote Canada recently gave the Canadian government a petition of 25,000 signatures on their Declaration of Voters Rights.
In Barrie, we have a plan to elect Ontario’s first Green MP. We’re calling the Order of the Green Century. The plan is pretty simple. Like a legion of 100 centurions, we’re recruiting 100 volunteers, and 100 monthly donors. With this we will be able to have a fully funded election campaign, and enough volunteers to knock on every door in the electoral district at least once. Because this century is the Green Century, and I want it climate change-free. Want to get involved? Email me!
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Why @GeorgianCollege needs to be held accountable.
This is a Computer Fundamentals class taking an exam. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The good news is I passed the Investment Funds in Canada exam!!
The bad news is I had a terrible experience after writing the exam at Barrie’s Georgian College.
So after writing the exam, I was feeling pretty good. Proud of myself. I got in my car to leave, and stopped at the gate to pay my $5. The gate didn’t open. It didn’t like any of my coins. In fact there were other coins in the coin return. I tired all of them, then I pressed the button for the parking guy.
First thing out of the guy’s mouth (over the intercom) is to try to accuse me of stealing. He did let me and my car go, and the money was left behind, but if the College had bothered to keep it’s equipment in top condition and/or up-to-date, none of this would have happened.
But that’s not why I think Georgian College should be held accountable. Yes it was a shitty experience, so I wrote a letter to the Manager at the Parking Office. After a week I had no reply, so I sent a copy to the College’s Public Relations department, and after another week, still no reply.
The Ontario Ombudsman has been lobbying the provincial government to gain authority to investigate the “MUSH” sector, which is colleges, universities and hospitals. Ontario is the only Canadian province where their Ombudsman CANNOT investigate this sector.
It’s about time this changed, and about time the College replied to my letter.
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Investing in Canada
So I started a new course this past Monday, it’s on “Investment Funds in Canada”. I got chapter 1 done, and it was a decent introduction to the course. I felt I got a good overview of the mutual fund industry at the moment, and the history of mutual funds in Canada and worldwide.
The end result of the course, if you pass the exam, is a mutual funds license, to sell mutual funds. So far the course seems fairly straight forward and easy to learn, but I’ll admit I’m lucky as I got the audio book, makes it a bit easier to learn for me.
As for chapter 1, I’d give it an A. It had a good understanding of the fundamentals.
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Updating in the ecosystem
Canada (Photo credit: palindrome6996)
So it’s been a while since my last update. My Kobo I mentioned is a really good product. I did have to send it in under warranty to be replaced a few weeks ago, I couldn’t connect the Kobo to my computer. Works great now!
So with the Barrie Green Party, which is the local electoral district association for both the Green Party of Canada and the Green Party of Ontario; for a few years now we’ve played host to a few college co-op students. This term we’ve had our co-op students working on research articles for the newly formed Georgian College Young Greens. The newest is on Alternative Energy Sources. They’ll also be doing one for the Barrie Young Greens.
Health wise I’m still on the transplant list, I potentially have a 5 year wait still. I’ve been on the list for 5 years since it goes back to my “return to dialysis” date.
What else is new? I’m going to BC in August for the Green Party of Canada convention. I’m really looking forward to that!
Oh and I’m also now on Google+! And my main website has been totally changed to a cool new format!
Have a great day!!
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Going Kobo
Image by I am I.A.M. via Flickr
For those who know me, for a year and a bit I’ve been using a Sony eReader for my ebook reading. I got it free through Air Miles. (And now you know someone who actually got something for free from a points program!) I also have an iPad which really is the greatest thing to happen to humanity since the big bang! And while it’s a great device, it’s too heavy to use as a regular ebook reader. Yesterday, Kobo (owned by Canada’s Indigo Books & Music) announced the new Kobo eReader Touch Edition.
So I went ahead and pre-ordered the black touch Kobo. Why?
5. My sister and Mom both have a Kobo, which makes buying ebooks easier for everyone easier.
4. Touch screen, cheaper than the Sony version. It’s going to make reading e-books simpler, and without needing a special button, make it more user friendly.
3. It’s Canadian. And while I do shop at places like amazon.ca, it’s still Canadian.
2. Syncing. It syncs between my iPad, Kobo, computer, etc. My Sony Reader doesn’t do that.
1. Free eBooks. While Sony has some free eBooks (mainly 100 years old public domain), Kobo has a greater variety. And has lots of coupons for things that aren’t free! The new touch edition comes with a $10 gift card to buy books with.
The touch edition also has the new pearl e-ink display, which the Kindle also has which allows for easier reading under direct sunlight, and acts more like reading a real paper book. Plus all sorts of neat features, and interactive social networking features! And it has Wi-Fi, including free access at Bell wi-fi hotspots so if you need to buy a book on the go, you can!
My biggest complaint about Kobo is that they don’t have a shopping cart for their eBookstore. Sacrifices always have to be made, and I don’t have to buy from them exclusively. Also one of the biggest bonuses – You can buy books in Canadian dollars!
Enjoy reading!
Related articles
- Kobo goes up market, targets Kindle (thestar.com)
- Kobo unveils Touch Screen e-reader for $130 (macworld.com)
- Kobo Announces Touchscreen Ereader (mashable.com)
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