OTTAWA — Leader of the Green Party, Elizabeth May (Saanich-Gulf Islands) has appointed Clive Doucet (candidate for Cape Breton-Canso) as critic for east coast fisheries on the party’s Shadow Cabinet. The Shadow Cabinet develops party positions based on policies adopted by Green Party membership.
From his early years spent alongside the fishermen in Grand Etang N.S., and in Ottawa where his father, Fern Doucet, was special advisor to Fisheries Minister Romeo Leblanc, Clive Doucet has been passionate about sustainability issues.
“The Minister asked my father to lead the study that led to the first over-the-side sale of herring for Canadian fishermen in the Bay of Fundy,” said Doucet. “Over-the-side sales tripled the price of herring for Canadian fishermen within 12 months. If I learned anything from my father, it is the importance of being available to fishermen and listening. This chance to follow in his footsteps is a great day for me.”
Elected to Ottawa City Council in 1997, Mr. Doucet was the only city councilor in Capital Ward to be re-elected four times. In 2004, he was voted Canada’s greenest councilor and was named Ottawa’s 2010 Man of the Year in a Consumer Choice poll. He has served on numerous city boards and committees.
“Clive has witnessed first hand the situation facing east coast fisherman,” said Ms. May. “He’s close to the people living in these coastal communities and understand their concerns. He’ll be an effective champion for their cause in Ottawa.”
Mr. Doucet has penned several books, among them: Notes from Exile: On Being Acadian, selected as one of the 100 best books published by McClelland and Stewart; Urban Meltdown: Cities, Climate Change and Politics as Usual, shortlisted for the Shaughness-Cohen Award for political writing and My Grandfather's Cape Breton, considered a Canadian classic. His life has been driven by twin passions for Cape Breton and a sustainable environment.
Mr. Doucet says that many Canadians are concerned about climate change and hopes that these concerns are reflected in the way people vote.
“The world has changed and we need to adapt to the new realities if we want to survive,” he concluded. “We must elect more Greens to Parliament. Germany has a powerful Green voting block and now has 50 per cent of its electricity provided by renewable energy. Knowledge and capacity isn’t the problem. Politics is. It’s time to send Cape Breton’s first Green Member of Parliament to Ottawa.”
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For more information or to arrange an interview contact:
Rosie Emery
Press Secretary
613-562-4916x206
rosie.emery@greenparty.ca