People grumble a lot about politicians.  We all seem to know what they should be doing or saying.  But why don’t we run as a candidate ourselves?  Perhaps it’s the massive time commitment.  Perhaps it’s losing income from our jobs as we take time off to campaign.  Perhaps it’s the antagonism and downright rudeness that every candidate encounters on the campaign trail, in public for all to see.  So when people have the courage to be a candidate we should thank them for keeping our democracy healthy, regardless of what (if any) political party they represent.  The executive of the Ottawa Centre Greens would like to thank the following people who ran in the federal election in our riding on October 14, 2008.

John Apkata (Radical Marijuana Party)
Penny Collenette (Liberal Party)
Jen Hunter (Green Party … of course)
Brian McGarry (Conservative Party)
Pierre Soublière (Marxist-Leninist Party)
And a big congratulations to Paul Dewar (NDP) who won the election here with 39.7% of the votes cast.  We hope he will continue to represent our citizens with honesty and integrity.