Sometimes people ask me what it’s like to be leader of the Green Party of Quebec? Do we travel in the lap of luxury while staying in five-star hotels? Do we dine in fancy restaurants while spending lavish amounts of money on ourselves or are we a true grassroots activist organization?
Out of the past 12 days on the road Raymond Collins Robinson and I have spent seven nights camping in rest stops, two days sleeping on a family’s couch in Tuktoyaktuk and two days sleeping on bunk beds at the Unist’ot’en anti pipeline camp.
Last night I slept under a Terry Fox sign at a highway rest stop outside of Valemount BC in light rain. Although some people may question why we push ourselves to these kinds of limits, why we spend our limited vacation time crisscrossing the country in a sixteen-year-old car eating ramen noodles cooked in parking lots while others are out making money, climbing the corporate ladder and living large?
The truth is both Raymond and I love doing this work; showing solidarity, meeting local activists, being one with nature and advocating for the environment by any means possible. We will never prioritize personal gain over the environment. We will never accept what Canada is doing to indigenous communities and to the environment. We need to resist by any means possible and there is nothing we would rather be doing than what we are now.
In solidarity,
Alex Tyrrell
Leader of the Green Party of Quebec
