With a busy tour of Barrie planned today for Elizabeth May, the federal leader of the Green Party started her day at Busch Systems in the city’s south end.
May has several stops throughout the day before the town hall meeting at Mavricks Music Hall tonight in downtown Barrie.
She began her day with a morning tour of Busch Systems on Rawson Avenue. The company manufactures a line of recycling bins, containers, carts and composters.
May spoke to BarrieToday during the tour and said she was in awe of the work being done in Barrie to support business and the environment.
“This place is simply amazing and it must be wonderful for folks locally to see a company not just competing globally, but winning the race in business, particularly environmentally sound business,” she said.
May toured the offices and warehouse facility before meeting with staff in the boardroom where she encouraged them to vote for what they want in October’s federal election.
Despite still being seen by some as a party that is only focused on environmental issues, May said that business and economic growth are huge components of her platform.
“We like to think of ourselves as the party for small business,” she told BarrieToday. “One of my private member's bills that didn’t get through this year, though I will bring it back, was subtitled Think Small First, with the idea being that before any regulation or legislation can be passed, we need to have it reviewed in advance for what impact it would have on small business.
"Absolutely, we feel strongly about caring for our environment, but there is much more to the Green Party than that and I want everyone to take a look and see that we might be the party for them," May added.
Busch Systems CEO Craig Busch, who guided May through his building, told BarrieToday he didn’t view May as a just a federal leader stopping by, but rather a person he highly respects walking through his doors.
“To have a federal leader here didn’t mean anything to me," he said. "To have Elizabeth May here did mean something to me. She’s different. She is somebody who I really respect and to have her come by was a very big deal to me.”
Busch said he was once wary of supporting the Green Party, because he believed they would interfere with his growing business.
But now, he says hopes other small and big business owners will give the Greens a chance in the upcoming federal election.
“That was something about the Greens that at first scared me off, the false idea that they were no good for business,” Busch said. “I couldn’t have been more wrong, because as I looked into it, they are actually the most fiscally responsible party with the best platform and budget.
"They really aren’t all about tree-hugging and all that, but do have a great plan for all the concerns of Canadians," he added.
May was also making stops today at the Barrie Native Friendship Centre and the David Busby Centre, as well as Thornton and Alcona, before eventually heading to the Sandbox Centre on Maple Avenue this afternoon and then Mavricks Music Hall for her Community Matters town hall meeting beginning at 7 p.m., at 46 Dunlop St. W. The Mavricks event is free and open to the public.
