Lorraine Rekmans named Green Party candidate for the Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes by-election

OTTAWA – Green Party of Canada Leader Elizabeth May (MP, Saanich-Gulf Islands) is delighted to announce that Lorraine Rekmans is the Green Party of Canada candidate in the Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes by-election on December 3.

A tireless advocate for Canada’s First Nations peoples, Ms. Rekmans has been the party’s Indigenous Affairs critic since 2008. She is an expert on natural resources issues, having served as Executive Director of the National Aboriginal Forestry Association. She also co-chaired an international dialogue on forestry at the United Nations Forum on Forests, and helped organize the World Forestry Congress in Quebec City. She helped to write a number of international declarations including the Indigenous Peoples Declaration on Forestry, which was submitted at the World Forestry Congress in 2003.

“I believe that we have to live within our means,” said Ms. Rekmans. “We can’t take more from the planet than the planet can sustain. We must be stewards of the earth. I joined the Greens because the party’s principles align with my personal principles and ethics and because we need climate action now.”

Ms. Rekmans ran as Green Party of Canada candidate in Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing in 2008 and 2011 and in Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes in 2015.

Ms. May commented: “I have worked with Lorraine since I first met her as Executive Director of National Aboriginal Forestry Association and have admired her devotion ever since to her family, her people and the party,” said Ms. May. “She has been an inspiration to everyone at the Green Party of Canada.”

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For further information or to arrange an interview:

Rod Leggett
Press Secretary
Rod.leggett@greenparty.ca
613-562-4916 ext. 206