This is by far the most important letter I have ever written to you. I need your help.

A year ago, you made a decision: that Green MPPs at Queen’s Park are the best way to have your voice heard. Like many Ontarians, you decided that the status quo is not acceptable.

Since the election, our political situation has become more urgent. The weather’s in overdrive, new nuclear plants are on the table, new quarries threaten our drinking water, and the Harper and McGuinty governments are aggressively attacking the environment and our democracy.

On October 15th, our political situation became completely unhinged with Dalton McGuinty’s resignation, and the prorogation of the Legislature. Until a new Liberal leader is selected, Queen’s Park is closed for business. This is an unstable government lacking in leadership.

The cynical political maneuvers by the outgoing Premier are an affront to our democracy, and put party politics ahead of principled leadership. At a time of soaring deficits, instability in our schools and partisan boondoggles costing us billions of dollars — and while the old-style parties have no clear vision for the future — we can’t afford for our elected politicians to be off the job until next spring.

While the political repercussions will be felt far and wide for months to come, one thing is certain: you and I are heading back to the polls in the next six months. We must be ready, replenish our campaign fund, maintain operations and strengthen the party. It’s imperative we make a breakthrough and elect our first Green MPPs.

Our Green Vision promises a better school system for all Ontario children, clean water for everyone, and hundreds of thousands of new, skilled jobs. With your support I have been proud to stand up for a different kind of politics. Together, we must bring fresh ideas to Queen’s Park and take principled stands on important issues that would otherwise not see the light of day.

Your immediate financial support to bolster our campaign fund is critical to prepare for the next election and ensure your voice is heard. I am asking that you join with me and thousands of other Ontarians by making a year-end donation of $120, $60, $30, or whatever you can afford.

The Urgency of an Election Campaign

Facing two potential elections 18 months apart is a daunting challenge for any political party, and more so for a young political party like ours. But I know that if we put our campaign and our team on solid footing, we can make a difference. We can elect our first Green MPP to Queen’s Park.

The results for our efforts since the last election speak for themselves: the recent by-election outcomes are stronger than the 2011 elections, and recent polls have shown renewed strength across the province. We’ve also made critical progress on key policy areas — helping to reverse government decisions to allow logging in Temagami and to gut the Endangered Species Act.

Before the 2011 provincial election, we had an entire four years to plan, save and prepare. The result was our most ambitious election campaign ever. We remained true to our principles and kept our finances in order. We did not spend what we did not have, and ended the election campaign debt-free. We were the only major party to do so.

We need your financial support today to keep up our fight to make government more responsible to you, to the environment, and to the future of our province and our children.

A Solid Foundation for Long-Term Growth

Following the last election, we asked for your thoughts on the campaign and what we can do differently next time. We heard from you that to truly move forward as a political party, we need to win our first seat(s) at Queen’s Park, just as Elizabeth May won our first seat federally. To meet this ambitious goal, we knew we must become self-sustaining and target significant investments into key ridings.

Since January, your strong support has dramatically improved our financial situation. The number of monthly donors has more than doubled, and our budget is now over 80% covered by regular, ongoing small donations of $5, $10 and $20 each. By this time next year, our operating budget will be fully funded by monthly donations.

This effort will be a significant milestone for the party, allowing us to use every extra dollar raised to follow Elizabeth’s winning strategy and put the first Green MPP in the Legislature.

What’s at Stake: the Choice is Yours

Time and again, you have heard about Ontario’s multi-billion dollar deficit. You are told day in and day out that only hard choices can be made to reduce and eventually eliminate this financial black hole.

What you don’t hear is that you have another choice. You can let the legacy parties at Queen’s Park – those same three parties who helped rack up hundreds of billions of debt in the first place – try to reduce the deficit. Or, you can choose the progressive, innovative and common sense solutions of the GPO, your party.

Ontario can do better. We must do better. Only your party is willing to stop the unaffordable multi-billion dollar expansion of our nuclear power plants, save $1.5 billion each year by moving to one school system, save families and businesses thousands of dollars through energy conservation, and put a stop to sole-sourced contracts.

Let’s sustain your party’s growth in 2012 and build on it. With the reckless threats of a snap election at any time, your continued financial support is absolutely critical.

As a special thank you for rising to this challenge, everyone who makes a financial contribution at least $35 before January 1st (or a monthly donation of at least $5) will receive your choice: an ecologically friendly GPO car magnet, or a GPO bike sticker. For any donation of at least $70, you will receive both!

Through your generous financial support, we will continue to lead on these critical issues and make sure your voice is heard. Please make a financial contribution today:

• Fill out the coupon and return with the enclosed reply envelope
• Visit http://www.gpo.ca/donate; or
• Call 888-647-3366 and speak to one of our office team members;

We need your support. Together, we will continue to make a positive difference in Ontario!

Yours Sincerely,

Mike Schreiner
Leader
Green Party of Ontario

P.S. I am determined to make sure your voice is heard at Queen’s Park, and believe the best way to do this is to elect our first MPP. I’ll be making an exciting announcement soon on our efforts to make this happen. Thank you again for your support and generous financial donation that is critical to our success.