Denizen of the Day: Mike Carr

Mike Carr is a widely respected academic, a visionary community activist and a concerned citizen. Mike Carr (seen here with Federal Green Party Leader Elizabeth May) is a Sessional Instructor at SFU and an Adjunct Professor at UBC’s School of Community & Regional Planning (SCARP).over the past 8 years Mike has taught a wide range of courses in several departments at SFU, including First Nations Studies, Urban Studies, Geography, Sociology/Anthropology and the Department of Humanities. Carr has also taught Urban Geography and the Geography of Colonial British Columbia at UBC and Bioregional Mapping at SCARP, UBC.

Carr is also a long time community activist. Currently he is a Director of the Grandview Woodlands Area Council in East Van. For over 30 years Mike has worked with many different groups in civil society, including; the Aurora Institute (which he helped found), the Native Education Society, the Eco-City Network, the Barefoot Cartographers, the Labour Environmental Alliance, the Northwest Ecosystem Alliance, SPEC, the Wilderness Committee, the Peoples Food Commission, Vancouver Cooperative Radio, the first Vancouver Walk for Peace in 1982 and many more.

A leading bioregional author and planner, Mike is now standing for election with the Green Party to challenge the status quo parties and to engage the electorate on our ecological and social crisis.

For more information check out his website, www.vaneastgreens.org or call 604-689-9200 or email vaneast@greenparty.ca.

Commentary: You Know You Have a Beard, Right?

Sean Condon wrote an interesting interview in a recent Only Magazine about Kevin Potvin. I thought I'd share a bit of it here.

Kevin Potvin thought he could run for the Green Party in Vancouver-Kingsway during the next federal election, take on the hated David Emerson and win a seat in the House of Commons. Holy shit, he was way off.

Instead, the publisher of The Republic and owner of Magpie Books and Magazines on Commercial Drive got slammed in every newspaper in the country, got hundreds of death threats and got bumped by the Greens because of an article he wrote five years ago called “A revolting confession” about 9/11 and America’s devastating imperialism.

Read the full story here...

Potvin Wins Green Party Seat for Vancouver-Kingsway

Back on March 16th, we reported a Green Party candidates meeting at Cafe Deux Soleils.
Well, the vote is in and our own Kevin Potvin made the grade. Read his thoughts in this article from the Vancouver Courier:

Last Sunday, I got myself nominated as the federal Green Party candidate in Vancouver-Kingsway.
My motivation is the same as when I ran for council in 2005. The interface between citizens and politicians has become opaque with layers of mystery, intrigue and gossip. We can either have elected representatives making up the rules of the game, or we can have appointed technocrats doing it for us.

Read the full story here...