Clara H. Whyte
Federal Council - British Columbia
I am an economist and a political scientist with almost 25 years of Canadian and international experience. I hold two Master’s degrees, one in Ecological Economics, and one in Political Science. I have worked extensively on sustainability projects both on the ground, including in the Amazon region, and at a policy level. I speak fluently French, English, Spanish and Portuguese. I also have an advanced level in German and in Mandarin Chinese. What's more, I am currently conducting research in the Andean region in Southern America, and learning Quechua, the most widely spoken Indigenous language in the Americas with between 10 and 15 million native speakers. I currently lead my own think tank, Paideia Mundi, which aims at promoting a biophilic ethics in our societies as defined by E. Wilson: "an innate tendency to focus on life and life-like processes" and by E. Fromm as "the passionate love of life and all that is alive, the wish to further growth whether in a person, a plant, an animal, an idea, a social group."
As A.Schweitzer put it, such an ethics should lead us to "act affirmatively toward the world and life, affirming that the world and life possess some sort of meaning" what should bring us to think optimistically. In this regard, Paideia Mundi leads an ongoing project aimed at restoring the “meaning of life” of our societies, particularly among the youth, which might help sort out such urgent issues as the “opioid crisis”. Just like the Green Party, I am a pacifist and hence try and promote good understanding between peoples and cultures.
Due to both my strong professional background and my strong biophilic and pacifist ethics, I believe I have a lot to bring to the Green Party governance at a time when it has more than ever a major role to play to sort out rising provincial, federal and global issues. I believe we need to focus on our core common values and promote collaboration between all our members. To this end, an ethics of care, respect and understanding should be promoted at all levels.
