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George Read (Canadian politician)
Encyclopedia
Green Party of Alberta
The Green Party of Alberta, also known as the Alberta Greens, was a provincial political party in the province of Alberta, Canada.The Alberta Greens were formed in 1986 and received official party status on April 6, 1990...
and formerly a key organizer for the federal Green Party of Canada
Green Party of Canada
The Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with 10,000–12,000 registered members as of October 2008. The Greens advance a broad multi-issue political platform that reflects its core values of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and...
(GPC) in Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
.
Green Party organizing
Read led the provincial and federal Green Parties in Alberta during a period of growth in support for the parties. Prior to his involvement, the Green Party remained well below 1% of the vote in Alberta.Green Party of Alberta
Read was elected leader of the Green Party of AlbertaGreen Party of Alberta
The Green Party of Alberta, also known as the Alberta Greens, was a provincial political party in the province of Alberta, Canada.The Alberta Greens were formed in 1986 and received official party status on April 6, 1990...
at the provincial convention held in Red Deer
Red Deer, Alberta
Red Deer is a city in Central Alberta, Canada. It is located near the midpoint of the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor and is surrounded by Red Deer County. It is Alberta's third-most-populous city – after Calgary and Edmonton. The city is located in aspen parkland, a region of rolling hills...
on November 1, 2003. Read won the position against incumbent David Parker.
Green Party of Canada
Read brought together organizers for the Green Party of CanadaGreen Party of Canada
The Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with 10,000–12,000 registered members as of October 2008. The Greens advance a broad multi-issue political platform that reflects its core values of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and...
who recruited the first full slate
Full slate
Any political party or faction that seeks to form a majority in a parliament or on a board of directors or other responsible body typically must run a full slate if only to demonstrate that they have the capacity to attract the talent to fill every position with some person, even if that person is...
of Green candidates in Alberta for the 2004 federal election
Canadian federal election, 2004
The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
.
In that election, the Green Party of Canada received a higher percentage of votes in Alberta than in other provinces: the party won 6.3% of the popular vote in the province, and approximately 10% in the ridings of Calgary Centre-North
Calgary Centre-North
Calgary Centre-North is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 2004...
(third highest Green vote percentage in Canada) and Calgary South Centre (fourth highest in Canada). Some commentators ascribed this to the relatively weak position of the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
and New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
in Alberta.
Read was the National campaign manager of the Green Party of Canada for the 2006 Federal election.
Read participated in a committee to decide staff changes in the GPC as of November 2006. One of the positions it would decide would be the National Campaign Manager.
Election campaigns
In June 2004, he ran for election as the Green Party of Canada candidate in the federal riding of Calgary SoutheastCalgary Southeast
Calgary Southeast is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1988. The district is in the southeast part of the City of Calgary...
, finishing just behind the NDP candidate.
He ran for the provincial Greens in the Calgary-Egmont riding in the 2004 Alberta provincial election
Alberta general election, 2004
The Alberta general election of 2004 was the twenty-sixth general election for the province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on November 22, 2004 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
. Finishing just behind the Alberta Alliance
Alberta Alliance Party
The Alberta Alliance was a right wing provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Many of its members were former supporters of the now-defunct Canadian Alliance federal political party and its predecessor, the Reform Party of Canada. Members also joined from such other provincial fringe parties...
and ahead of the NDP.
He was the Green Party of Alberta candidate in the June 12, 2007, by-election
Alberta provincial by-elections, 2007
Provincial by-election were held in Alberta on 12 June 2007 to fill the vacancies in the Legislative Assembly ridings of Calgary Elbow and Drumheller-Stettler. The ridings were vacated on January 15, 2007 by the resignation of the outgoing Premier and Deputy Premier, Ralph Klein and Shirley McClellan...
for the riding of Calgary Elbow
Calgary Elbow
Calgary-Elbow is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada. Its current MLA is Alison Redford, a Progressive Conservative, who defeated incumbent Liberal candidate Craig Cheffins in the 2008 Alberta general election....
.
Read was the leader of the Alberta Greens in the Mar 3rd 2008 provincial election. He ran in the riding of Calgary Northwest and received 4.95% of the vote. The Alberta Greens moved from 2.8% of the vote in 2004 to 4.6% of the vote in 2008 under Reads Leadership.
The Alberta Greens ran 79 candidates in 2008 up from 49 candidates in 2004.
Personal history
Read was born and raised Feb 29, 1972 in CalgaryCalgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
As a youth, he was a member of Scouts Canada
Scouts Canada
Scouts Canada is a Canadian Scouting association that, in affiliation with the French-language Association des Scouts du Canada, is a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement...
, which he credits with giving him a love of the outdoors.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in Political Science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
/Management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
from the University of Calgary
University of Calgary
The University of Calgary is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1966 the U of C is composed of 14 faculties and more than 85 research institutes and centres.More than 25,000 undergraduate and 5,500 graduate students are currently...
.
He has also been active for many years with the Sierra Club of Canada
Sierra Club of Canada
Sierra Club Canada is a Canadian, volunteer-based environmental organization. It is part of the environmental movement.The roots of Sierra Club Canada go back to 1963, when environmentalists in British Columbia affiliated themselves with the Sierra Club of the United States...
, in Calgary.