The former deputy leader of the Green Party of Canada, David Chernushenko, chalked up a political win for the environment last October with his election to Ottawa’s city council representing the Capital Ward.
- David Chernushenko
In an interview at his home in Ottawa South, Chernushenko made it clear he is looking to leave Green party stereotypes behind him as a city councilor but was far from denying his support of green initiatives in government.
“There are all kinds of incentives the city can be giving to encourage both conservation and use of renewable energy,” he said. “Those all seem to be “environmental issues” but they are actually quality of life issues.”
For the 47-year-old, environmental politics are not about what he called, “granola crunching, Birkenstock wearing,” idealism, but instead changing society to preserve the ecosystems that support us.
“You can’t sit on the sidelines forever,” he said about his jump into politics.
Chernushenko spoke about his involvement with the Green party, explaining it was the leader of the provincial Green party in Ontario who motivated him to enter politics in 2003. “He sent me the party’s new platform. I went through it and thought, ‘wow, this party has really matured, there is nothing in here that I disagree with.’”
He ran once provincially in Ontario and twice federally for the Green Party of Canada.
In 2006 he ran against Paul Dewar in Ottawa Centre, winning the most votes of any Green member in the country.
On top of braving federal and provincial politics, Chernushenko ran for leadership of the Green party in 2006, losing to Elizabeth May.
“She won, I came second, that is life.”
Chernushenko said he stayed with the Green party under May for a year, serving as the senior deputy leader, but resigned in 2007. “It just reached the point where I disagreed with her on so many of the things she was doing,” he admitted.
Despite his differences with the current leader, Chernushenko said he is still a strong believer in the idea of a green party. He said he has seen them evolve from what he called a fringe environmental party in the 1960s, to become the professional and developed political party it is today.
After four years as a Green party member, Chernushenko made the decision to leave party politics. In 2010, decided to run in the Ottawa municipal election.
Chernushenko said he was happy to leave the rules and stereotypes of political parties behind him.
Anouck Hoedeman, Chernushenko’s media consultant who met him in 2006 when he was running for the leadership of the Green party, said Chernushenko’s best move was to switch to municipal politics.
“People like to pigeon hole [politicians] as being right wing or left wing but not everyone fits into that very easily,” she said. “I think a lot of people think of David as a left wing person but I don’t think he is. I think he is somewhere in between and it depends what the issue is.”
Hoedeman said she believes Chernushenko is left-wing in terms of social justice and the environment but is actually more of a conservative when it comes to fiscal issues.
Another Capital Ward candidate in the 2010 election, Domenic Santaguida, said, critics of Chernushenko’s bid for councilor mainly attacked his affiliation with the Green Party of Canada.
“People were critical of him having been a Green party candidate and the stereotype of a Green party candidate being left wing,” he said.
“He claims that he will have a balanced approach, and time will tell,” said Satntaguida.
In spite of the criticisms, Chernushenko said he believes there were only subtle differences between each candidate’s action plan and that he did not win based on a radical or “green” platform.
“I think it came down to, in the end, who people thought would be the best carrier of the torch to represent them on city council and, for whatever reason, they chose me.”
Chernushenko said he plans to focus on transportation issues as a city councilor, hoping to bring in more bike lanes and what he called “smarter building” in the downtown core.
Wander Woman 