Winnipeg Green Party
The Winnipeg Green Party is a municipal political party in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
2006 campaign
The party was created in 2006, and fielded six candidates in the 2006 municipal election, none of whom were elected.
As of 2006, the Winnipeg Greens are the only municipal party in Winnipeg. The City of Winnipeg does not officially recognize political parties, and all six candidates appeared on the ballot without party affiliation. The party is not formally affiliated with the Green Party of Canada or the Green Party of Manitoba, although many of its members also belong to these parties.
The Winnipeg Greens campaigned on a six-point platform in 2006. The party supported reinvestment in existing neighbourhoods, rather than the pursuit of developer-friendly policies in new urban extensions. It also called for improved public transit, greater accountability in public works, a ban on cosmetic pesticides, and the removal of Video Lottery Terminals from the city. All six candidates opposed the OlyWest slaughterhouse planned for the St. Boniface/Transcona area.
The party does not have an official leader, although former Green Party of Manitoba leader Markus Buchart has been its primary representative at public events. Elizabeth Fleming is the party's president.
The WGP should not be confused with an earlier municipal Green Party, organized by social justice activist Nick Ternette for the 1989 municipal election.
2006 candidates
David J. Danyluk (Elmwood-East Kildonan)
Danyluk was raised in northern Manitoba, where his father worked as a firefighter. He worked as a realtor before earning aBachelor's Degree in Politics and Administrative Studies from the University of Winnipeg. As of 2007, he is completing a Master's Degree in city planning at the University of Manitoba.
He co-ordinated West Broadway Walking Tours in 2002, Providing guided tours in the West Broadway area of Winnipeg. He later became co-ordinator of Save Our Seine, a group supporting the protection of an urban forest area along the Seine River. In 2005, the group undertook to complete a detailed map of the Seine River region. The following year, Danyluk strongly criticized the city's moratorium on new Seine River trails.
He endorsed Winnipeg Centre Liberal candidate David Northcott in the 2004 federal election. In 2007, he wrote an editorial piece in the Winnipeg Free Press that was strongly critical of the provincial government's increasing economic reliance on Video Lottery Terminals.
Danyluk was a founding member of the Winnipeg Green Party, and was the first person to hold the position of party secretary. He was 33 years old at the time of the 2006 election. He received 1,657 votes (19.32%), finishing second against incumbent councillor Lillian Thomas.