Sustainable Transportation Forum – On Stage Saturday, July 10th, 12:00pm

Elizabeth May is the Leader of the Green Party of Canada and one of our country’s most respected environmentalists. She is a prominent lawyer, the author of seven books, an Officer of the Order of Canada, and a loving grandmother. She lives in Sidney, BC and she is your candidate for MP in Saanich – Gulf Islands.

Elizabeth is national leader of the Green Party of Canada. She is a candidate for Parliament in the riding of Saanich – Gulf Islands. Before her election as party leader in 2006 Elizabeth had a full career as an environmentalist, lawyer, government advisor, and author. Since she was a teenager Elizabeth has been a community-organizer, beginning in Nova Scotia where she led the campaign to prevent herbicide spraying on the forests of Cape Breton Island.

An officer of the Order of Canada since 2005, Elizabeth is a singe mother, grandmother, and dog lover. She lives in Sidney just blocks from her riding office. For more info click here.

Jeremy Fisher, BC based musician, who  performed at the Organic Islands Festival in 2008 and 2009, will be  a special guest speaker on the Sustainable Transportation forum. After the forum commences the festival audience will enjoy a performance by Hannah Georgas, who along with Jeremy is currently touring with  The Malahat Revue.  Fisher,  Said the Whale, Hannah Georgas and Aidan Knight have come together, with a salute to the environment to form The Malahat Revue, an eight-piece musical collective that will begin touring their beloved province by bicycle this July 7, 2010.

Conceived by Jeremy Fisher who has toured across North America by bike three times, and at 33, doesn’t own a car, Fisher endeavours to do as much as possible by bike. It’s with that ethic in mind that The Malahat Revue will hit the road on their bicycles, playing six shows over twelve days from July 7-18. With only a single support vehicle to carry drums and larger gear, the musicians will carry more portable gear with them, and rack up over 500 kilometers as they pedal from gig to gig in a little more than a week. For more info about their performances click here. For Jeremy Fisher’s website and bio click here.

John Luton is a first time City Councilor in Victoria.  He continues to work as Executive Director of Capital Bike and Walk, a non-profit organization active in promoting cycling and walking for transportation, and has been a fixture in Victoria’s cycling community for the last decade.  He has worked on a variety of projects focused on improving the road and trail environments for cycling and is a founder of the capital’s successful Bike to Work Week event.  John has been instrumental in promoting the region’s newest trail project along the E&N railway corridor, has published a bicycle parking manual used across Canada, a downtown Victoria walking map that is used by locals and visitors and has lost count of the number of bicycle lane and other on-road projects he has helped to advance.  He and his wife Susan have two children, Vladimir and Elena, and live in the city’s Fairfield neighbourhood.

Guy Dauncey is a speaker, author, and organizer who works to develop a positive vision of a sustainable future, and to translate that vision into action.  His latest book – The Climate Challenge: 101 Solutions to Global Warming was published in November 2009. Guy is the President of the BC Sustainable Energy Association, and author or co- author of nine books, including the award-winning book Cancer: 101 Solutions to a Preventable Epidemic. He is also the publisher of EcoNews, a monthly newsletter that promotes the vision of a sustainable Vancouver Island. More info at:  http://www.earthfuture.com

Sue Hallatt, a senior planner with the CRD Capital Regional District, is a person with a special focus on transportation planning due to its crucial role in responding to such divergent, emerging issues as health and wellness, changing demographics, social equity, economic development, land use, air and water quality and climate change. For these reasons, Sue is working to firmly pull the field of transportation planning out of its professional isolation chamber and into its rightful place among inter-disciplinary practices.

Sue now works for the Capital Regional District as a Regional Planner, and is currently overseeing the development and implementation of the region’s first Bicycle Pedestrian Masterplan, and the CRD’s Transportation Demand Management Strategy. Sue is also on the Board of the Victoria Carshare Coop. Sue was born and raised in Victoria, is an avid cyclist and plays the accordion very badly.

Irwin Henderson, President of IslandTransformations.Org, is an independent communications and planning consultant who enjoys working with volunteer organizations, charities and private clients.  He has been part of projects to reduce homelessness, promote alternative integrated transportation, and further planning for neighbourhoods and the region. He is a long-time member of the IslandTransformations.Org coalition, former chair of Victoria¹s Advisory Planning Commission, mentors the Victoria Youth Council, and is a member of Capital Bike & Walk Society, BC Crystal Meth Society, Tibetan Refugee Aid Society, and Rondo Piano Academy.