It’s been a long, exhausting campaign for the Kingston Green candidate Janina Fisher Balfour, but also an extremely rewarding one.
“I’ve learned so much,” Fisher Balfour said during the Green campaign party at the Gallery Café last night.
“I feel I have become a much better citizen in the process … I’ve really grown as a person.”
Fisher Balfour had virtually no political experience before embarking on the campaign trail. In addition to her campaigning duties, she has been finishing courses in development studies at Queen’s.
Fisher Balfour, clad fittingly in a soft green pantsuit said that her experiences campaigning during this election have taught her far more than any class.
“I’ve realized that I don’t need to impress anybody,” she said.
“I’ve become more myself, I’ve been able to relax and become more real.”
This personal ethos has extended wholeheartedly to Fisher Balfour’s politics.
“As a woman, I see how we can gain far more politically by being co-operative rather than competitive,” she said.
Fisher Balfour cited the candidates debate as an example of her relaxed position.
“I don’t see how those competitive events serve anyone,” she said. “I don’t feel a debate accurately summarizes my position — I’d rather speak one on one with people.”
Fisher Balfour performed most of her canvassing herself.
“I loved seeing that spark in people’s eyes when I explained the Green philosophy and it meant something to them,” she said.
Fisher Balfour was heartened by the rising numbers of Green ers in Kingston over the years, and also by her tireless volunteers — a staff of over 100.
“They have been absolutely phenomenal,” she said.
Voter David Fono, ArtSci ’04, said “a vote for Green is a vote outside of the status quo.”
Fono also felt that the issues represented by the Green party, more than any other federal party, were attractive to young voters.
“They hit a lot of issues popular with young people these days … the anti-corporate, anti-Western, pro-environment ethos,” she said.
“Unlike the other parties, they’re thinking a hundred years in advance,” Fono said.
“The Green has a definite vision, and that’s very important.”
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