According to Dr. Collan Simmons, the recently acclaimed federal Green Party nominee for Perth-Wellington, the key to getting voters to take action on climate change is putting the solutions in practical terms.

The chief of anesthesiology at Stratford General Hospital and a Stratford resident for nearly a decade, Simmons first involved himself with the Green Party after reading the United Nations’ report on climate change last fall, which gave humans roughly 10 to 12 years to reduce the rate of global warming before its effects become irreversible over the next two to four decades.

“Over the years, I’ve supported other parties and no one’s really doing anything about this. Conservatives, on their watch, prior to Justin Trudeau, paid a lot of lip service to climate change but never actually did anything to reduce emissions. … And then under the Trudeau Liberals, they started off with a pretty good game, but then they bought a pipeline and the emissions are going up,” Simmons said.

“So that’s why I signed up for the Green Party because we have a very clear platform about moving away from a carbon-based economy, and basically updating the economy and our infrastructure to move away from greenhouse gas emissions.”

After signing on with the party, however, Simmons learned its local electoral district association had all but collapsed. Determined to get the party message out to residents, Simmons took it upon himself to reignite the Green presence in Perth-Wellington.

At a meeting last week, after putting out a call for nominees for this fall’s federal election, Simmons found himself unopposed and was officially acclaimed as the party’s nominee for the riding.

“I don’t think history’s going to look back very kindly at this point in time when the writing was on the wall. Climate change is real; the scientific evidence is overwhelmingly supportive … and if we don’t do anything about it, we’re going to be in trouble. So in the future, when we look back at this point and say, ‘Why didn’t you guys do anything,’ I want to be able to say, ‘I did something,’” Simmons said.

But in a largely rural riding with Conservative roots that go way back, Simmons knows the challenge of spreading the Green Party platform is – and will be – significant, but not impossible.

Instead of focusing on the doom and gloom that seems to dominate the discussion around climate change, Simmons hopes to shift the conversation to practical solutions that aren’t only better for the environment, but also for voters’ wallets and the economy.

“An agricultural area is inherently practical. They do what works. … When you look around, a lot of farmers have wind turbines on their property to generate energy because it’s economically advantageous. A lot of farmers have put up solar panels, once again because it’s economically advantageous. So it’s not like being in a more rural agricultural area doesn’t mean you can’t be green, it just means you have to make it economically advantageous,” Simmons said.

“There’s no reason that Canada can’t be a world leader in low-carbon agriculture. … (And) there are more jobs in a green economy than in oil and gas. Oil and gas is highly automated, whereas green energy tends to be highly distributed, so you’re going to have more solar panels, more wind turbines, more local battery storage, which means we need people to install, maintain and take care of all that stuff.”

And while action on climate change is certainly a keystone of his and his party’s platform, Simmons said there is plenty more for voters to get behind in the lead-up to the federal election.

Speaking broadly, Simmons said the Green Party is committed to more transparency in government, does not accept corporate donations in an effort to reduce the influence of money in politics, and does not force its members to vote along party lines.

“Yes, I represent the Green Party, but I also represent my riding. If this riding can’t tolerate a bill passing, I’m free to vote against it,” Simmons said.

Though Simmons won’t become the Green Party’s official Perth-Wellington candidate until the writ is dropped – and he can’t start campaign in earnest until September – he is already planning a fully fledged, boots-on-the-ground campaign that will bring his and his party’s message to as many voters as possible. In the meantime, the party platform is being spread far and wide via social media.

For more information, search Perth-Wellington Federal Green Party EDA on Facebook, Twitter and, eventually, Instagram.

Canadians will head to the polls on Oct. 21.

gsimmons@postmedia.com