Well, here we are, the morning after... It's been quite a ride; 3 million dollars and one giant capitalist crisis later, here we are with a newly strengthened Conservative minority. Am I satisfied? I can honestly say that I am very satisfied with every one of the 940, 747 Canadians who voted Green (especially those who voted Green for the 1st time! Welcome aboard!), which includes in my case 3371 voters in NDG-Lachine. Congratulations to each and every one of you - you GOT it. You managed to see beyond all the fear mongering, the statistic-twisting and even perhaps the patronizing chuckles of your peers, and did what you knew to be the right thing.

Clearly, we are the party who suffered the most from voters' perceived need to vote strategically, and I am certain that with a different electoral system, we would have at least 10% of the vote today, if not more. Any system where a party gains nearly a million votes and not a single seat is clearly undemocratic.

Politics is certainly an exercise in patience and commitment towards democracy. We should be pleased that we are gaining in popularity, albeit slowly. Under normal circumstances, that would be fine, but right now we cannot AFFORD to slip further and further behind in our international obligations to slow climate change; how can we be pleased with gradual progress when we know the severity of the crisis that lies ahead for our children to confront continues to grow exponentially?

We must use every possible (legal) means to exert unbearable pressure on our government to implement Green policies. We need to DEMAND reforms to our electoral system, increased accountability and access to decision-making, and we cannot take no for an answer. But before all this and most importantly, we must educate our peers as to why they must join our efforts, because we need to be united. If not, we will continue to be dismissed as an insignificant minority.

Please continue to stay tuned to our site, which we will improve with new features and more opportunities for feedback from you. We will be organizing events in the community on an ongoing basis and hope you will consider getting involved with our riding association!