A vote for the Green Party a vote for grassroots democracy, says Mackenzie.
Ottawa West-Nepean Green Party candidate Mark Mackenzie is also the president of the Organic Landscape Alliance.
Blair Edwards
Mark Mackenzie’s transformation from a staunch Progressive
Conservative into a candidate for the Green Party in Ottawa-West Nepean started
in the 1980s when he was a young volunteer for the Brian Mulroney campaign
team.
Back then it seemed he was working for a party of change,
said Mackenzie, that would remove the long-serving Liberals.
But after the Tories were elected, the party followed many
of the habits – such as patronage appointments – that Mulroney had criticized
as Liberal excesses and abuses of power in the 1984 election.
Mackenzie left the PCs and for the next two decades focused
his efforts on building his environmentally-friendly businesses in the Ottawa
west area.
The 52-year-old started Appleseed Farm, growing organic
vegetables on a plot of land south of the Ottawa airport and later started
Appleseed Organic Lawn Care.
Mackenzie, currently owns Appleseed Snow Blowing services, a
company that uses trucks powered by biodiesel fuel made from vegetable oil to
lower vehicle emissions.
As president of the Organic Landscape Alliance, Mackenzie
successfully lobbied the Ontario
government to pass legislation banning the use of cosmetic pesticides.
Mackenzie joined the Green Party in 2002, a move that seemed
a natural fit for the politically-active and environmentally-conscious
businessman.
“I’m proud to stand with the Green Party because the Green
Party is consistent,” said Mackenzie.
Mackenzie, who lives in the Ottawa area, holds a bachelor’s
degree from the University of Western Ontario.
A vote for the Green Party is a vote for true grass roots
democracy, said Mackenzie, who promised to hold regular town hall meetings to
discuss issues and legislation before the House of Commons.
“My caucus would be the community leaders and concerned
citizens who have an interest in something passing on Parliament Hill,” he
said.
The second major plank in Mackenzie’s platform is building
strong communities, starting with health-care reform.
“The health-care system is a sickness care system,” he said.
“What we’re lacking is a health-care system: keeping healthy people healthy.”
A Green government would improve public transit to take more
polluting vehicles off the road and encourage companies to reduce greenhouse
gas and toxic chemical emissions, said Mackenzie.
The Greens would also encourage companies to reduce
additives and unnecessary chemicals in products found at the grocery store, he
said.
“You need to be a chemist when you go the store to figure
out all the things we’re eating,” said Mackenzie.
A Green government will build a “smart economy” for Canada,
reducing the country’s dependence on oil, said Mackenzie.
A $150 spike in the price of oil in 2008 was largely
responsible for Canada’s
recession, he said.
“The more we use oil, the more we are subject to the next
spike in oil,” said Mackenzie. “The Green Party doesn’t think that is smart.”
The Greens will encourage the use of alternative energies
such as geothermal, solar, and wind; the government.
Mackenzie promised to lobby for money to turn the Merivale
and Carling roads area into a walkable community with bike paths and for more.
The Greens will also encourage citizens to buy
locally-produced food, he said.