David MacFarquhar

I first got involved with the Green Party while studying at McGill University in 2020 after the rise of Donald Trump exposed the systemic failures of neoliberalism. I was a candidate for the Green Party of Quebec in 2022 and ran on a platform of free public transit, expansion of urban agriculture, and a reorientation of the public school system around sustainability. As a recovering Person-Who-Once-Voted-for-Stephen-Harper, I understand that political engagement is not a single action of voting once every four years. It is an ongoing commitment to addressing the underlying causes of the biggest interconnected crises of today – the climate crisis, poverty, and war. 

This “polycrisis” is why everything feels broken and rigged to benefit the lucky few. The majority of us will lose in systems that reward greed, exploitation of workers, and destruction of the environment. The catchy slogans and “solutions” proposed by most politicians and political parties are not solutions at all. 

My pragmatic, systems-based thinking gives me a unique perspective on real solutions that will help the Greater Saint John area. We need to expand rent controls and non-market owned housing to reduce the role of capital in driving the housing crisis, and tax capital gains the way we tax income for people who do real work. It’s time to implement a national public transportation framework that makes it easier to establish systems at appropriate scales for less dense communities.  

Let’s prove that Canada can be a leader on the international stage by treating the genocide in Palestine the same way we treat the invasion of Ukraine. 

The Green Party of Canada is the only party committed to building a world where all living beings can thrive.