By Rym Ghazal
Green party candidate Chris Bradshaw claims to have found the other parties’ appeal to voters – Chinese food.
“Platforms look like a Chinese restaurant menu,” says Bradshaw, in an interview at the Ottawa Centre candidate’s house in the Glebe. “They just have so much on their plate.”
“They just have something positive for everyone and remove anything negative that would stick in some voter’s craw.”
But Bradshaw says there is a way to change all this and give smaller parties a voice: “Send all parties a green message.”
He wants the winning party to focus on Green party values.
“Sustainability, integrity and community,” says Bradshaw, as he unfolds a finger-sized banner. “Small is beautiful,” he adds.
“Don’t worry about who wins,” he tells voters. “If we got 10 per cent of the votes this time from about one per cent [in the 1999 election], you can bet there will be a lot more environmental legislation.”
Born in Vancouver, Bradshaw earned a degree in political science from Oberlin College in Ohio. He later moved to Ottawa with his wife, Maryann, and his two daughters, Laura and Karen. He has lived in Ottawa Centre for more than 30 years.
He joined the Green party in 1999 and a year later founded Vrtucar, a car sharing company that provides an environmentally friendly alternative to car ownership.
The company currently lends out 14 cars to 250 people. “Car sharing is cheaper than car ownership,” says Bradshaw.
Today, at the age of 59, he is on a new mission. He wants to form a national Canadian association of neighbourhoods, in which neighbourhoods will be given the power to manage their own affairs “without the meddling of the cities.”
He wants to promote complete neighbourhoods with a main street, diverse housing and employment opportunities and where everything is within walking distance.
“There is nothing more wonderful than being able to walk to your job,” says Bradshaw.