David Chernushenko

David Chernushenko
Ottawa City Councillor
In office
December 1, 2010 – December 1, 2018
Preceded byClive Doucet
Succeeded byShawn Menard
ConstituencyCapital Ward
Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Canada
In office
2006–2008
Personal details
BornJune 1963 (age 61)
Calgary, Alberta
Political partyNon-aligned
Green Party of Canada (until 2008)[1]
Green Party of Ontario

David Chernushenko (born June 1963) is an author, speaker, sustainability consultant, documentary filmmaker and former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was elected to the Ottawa City Council in the 2010 municipal election and re-elected for a second term in 2014. He was the former deputy leader and senior deputy to the leader of the Green Party of Canada, and a leadership contestant for that party.

Early life and career

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Born in Calgary, Alberta, Chernushenko is a graduate of Queen's University (political science) and alumnus of Cambridge University (international relations), Chernushenko has worked for the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) and the United Nations Environment Programme.[2] He has served on committees and boards of local housing and environment groups, schools and health advisory bodies.[3]

Chernushenko is a "green building" professional accredited by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification program. As owner of the consulting firm Green & Gold Inc. since 1998, he has advised public, private, and non-profit organizations on adopting more sustainable and socially responsible practices.

From 1998 to 2004, Chernushenko served on the International Olympic Committee's commission on Sport and the Environment. He has written several books on sustainable management practices, including Sustainable Sport Management (UNEP, 2001) and Greening Our Games: Running Sports Events & Facilities that Won't Cost the Earth (Centurion, 1994), and the electronic publication Greening Campuses and their Communities (IISD/ACCC/UNEP, 1996). In 2001, he co-founded Clean Air Champions, a national charity that engaged athletes in raising awareness about air pollution, climate change, and the benefits of physical activity in Canada.

Federal politics

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Chernushenko was the Green Party candidate for Ottawa Centre in the 2004 federal election. He finished fourth with 4,730 votes (8%), receiving more votes than any other Green candidate in Ottawa. He ran again in Ottawa Centre in the 2006 federal election and again came fourth, losing to Paul Dewar from the New Democratic Party (NDP). Chernushenko received 6,766 votes (10.2%), the highest vote count of any Green Party candidate in the 2006 election. He passed the 10% threshold, thus becoming eligible for partial government reimbursement of campaign expenditures. Chernushenko was endorsed by the Ottawa Citizen newspaper in the 2004 and 2006 elections.[4] He also ran as the Green Party candidate in Ottawa South in the 2003 Ontario general election.

2006 Green Party leadership bid

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On March 30, 2006, David Chernushenko announced his bid for the leadership of the Green Party of Canada.[5] He was close to the positions of previous leader Jim Harris, in contrast to Elizabeth May, who was seen as more of a traditional activist. Chernushenko received 33.38% of the votes in the election, losing to May.[6] Since that time, Chernushenko has on occasion been critical of May's leadership of the party, and has publicly spoken out about her mixed messages about strategic voting in the 2008 federal election, an issue that some party insiders blamed for the Greens' poorer-than-expected results in that election.[7]

National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy

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On November 10, 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed Chernushenko to Canada's National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE), a non-partisan panel that advises the federal government on environmental policy, and works to promote environmental, social and economic practices in Canada's public, private and civil society sectors. Chernushenko served as a member on the NRTEE from 2006 to 2009, and served as vice-chair in 2008–2009.

Chernushenko resigned as deputy leader of the Green Party in July 2007 in order to devote more time to his international consulting business and the NRTEE, and to make documentary films.[8] Since then, he has launched the Living Lightly multimedia project and produced three documentaries, titled Be the Change (2008), Powerful: Energy for Everyone (2010)[9] and Bike City, Great City (2013).[10]

Ottawa City Council

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Chernushenko ran as City Councillor for Capital Ward in the 2010 Ottawa municipal election.[11] He won with 41.34% of the vote.[12] He was re-elected in 2014.[13] In the 2018 municipal election, Chernushenko was defeated by Shawn Menard.

Works

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Chernushenko, David (2019). Burning Souls. Ottawa: Green & Gold Inc. ISBN 978-1-234-56789-7.

Chernushenko, David; Anna Van der Kamp (2001). Sustainable Sport Management: Running an Environmentally, Socially and Economically Responsible Organization. United Nations Environment Programme. ISBN 92-807-2072-4.

Chernushenko, David (1994). Greening our games : running sports events and facilities that won't cost the Earth. Ottawa: Centurion Publishing & Marketing. ISBN 0-9697571-5-8.

Electoral record

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2018 Ottawa City Council electionCapital Ward
Capital Ward (Ward 17)[14] Vote %
    Shawn Menard 3,575 28.12
    Christine McAllister 3,198 25.15
    David Chernushenko (X) 2,970 23.36
    Anthony Carricato 2,451 19.28
    Jide Afolabi 520 4.09
2014 Ottawa City Council electionCapital Ward
Candidate Votes %
David Chernushenko (X) 7206 77.53
Scott Blurton 1788 19.19
Espoir Manirambona 322 3.46
2010 Ottawa City Council electionCapital Ward
Candidate Votes %
David Chernushenko 5335 41.34
Isabel Metcalfe 2515 19.49
Bob Brocklebank 2207 17.10
Domenic Santaguida 1475 11.43
Eugene Haslam 1084 8.40
Ron Le Blanc 243 1.88
Mano Hadavand 46 0.36
2006 Green Party of Canada leadership election
Candidate Votes
# %
Elizabeth May 2,145 65.34
David Chernushenko 1,096 33.38
Jim Fannon 29 0.88
None of the above 13 0.40
Total 3,283 100.0%


2006 Canadian federal election: Ottawa Centre
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Paul Dewar 24,611 36.93 -4.12
Liberal Richard Mahoney 19,458 29.20 -1.87
Conservative Keith Fountain 15,126 22.70 +3.67
Green David Chernushenko 6,766 10.15 +2.61
Marijuana John Akpata 386 0.58 -0.14
Independent Anwar Syed 121 0.18
Communist Stuart Ryan 102 0.15 +0.01
Marxist–Leninist Christian Legeais 68 0.10 -0.02
Total valid votes 66,638 100.00
  New Democratic Party hold Swing -1.1


2004 Canadian federal election: Ottawa Centre
Party Candidate Votes % Expenditures
New Democratic Ed Broadbent 25,734 41.05 $75,600.35
Liberal Richard Mahoney 19,478 31.07 $77,325.72
Conservative Mike Murphy 11,933 19.03 $37,895.42
Green David Chernushenko 4,730 7.54 $24,313.40
Marijuana Michael Foster 455 0.72
Independent Robert Gauthier 121 0.19
Communist Stuart Ryan 90 0.14 $379.63
Canadian Action Carla Marie Dancey 76 0.12
Marxist–Leninist Louis Lang 67 0.10
Total valid votes 62,684 100.00
Total rejected ballots 270
Turnout 62,954 70.35


2003 Ontario general election: Ottawa South
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Dalton McGuinty 24,647 51.70 +2.11 $ 70,963.18
Progressive Conservative Richard Raymond 16,413 34.43 −7.80 75,453.48
New Democratic James McLaren 4,306 9.03 +3.23 12,014.97
Green David Chernushenko 1,741 3.65 +2.07 2,884.13
Family Coalition John Pacheco 562 1.18   9,388.75
Total valid votes/expense limit 47,669 100.0   +4.11 $ 78,349.44
Total rejected ballots 296 0.62 −0.16
Turnout 47,965 58.77 +1.03
Eligible voters 81,614   +2.12
Liberal hold Swing +4.96

References

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  1. ^ "Ottawa Votes: What you need to know about the candidates in Capital ward".
  2. ^ Chernushenko, David; Anna van der Kamp (2001). Sustainable Sport Management: Running an Environmentally, Socially and Economically Responsible Organization. United Nations Environment Programme. ISBN 92-807-2072-4.
  3. ^ "My Walk". Ottawa Greens. Archived from the original on 2006-05-05.
  4. ^ "Chernushenko, again". Ottawa Citizen. 2006-01-20. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29.
  5. ^ "Chernushenko announces Green Party leadership bid". CBC Ottawa. 2006-03-30. Archived from the original on March 12, 2007.
  6. ^ "Renegotiate NAFTA, new Green party leader says". CBC News. 2006-08-26.
  7. ^ "May fends off calls for her resignation". The Glode and Mail. 2008-10-17.
  8. ^ "Good Green will be missed Archived 2012-10-25 at the Wayback Machine", Ottawa Citizen, July 10, 2007
  9. ^ Silven, Kirsten E. (27 May 2011). "Film Review – Powerful: Energy for Everyone". Earth Times. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  10. ^ "Chernushenko premiers film encouraging a more bike-friendly Ottawa". Ottawa Citizen. 9 July 2013. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  11. ^ "Chernushenko running for city council seat", CBC News, June 18, 2010
  12. ^ [1] Archived 2010-11-13 at the Wayback Machine City of Ottawa: Official Results — Election 2010
  13. ^ "Councillor". City of Ottawa. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  14. ^ "2018 Election Results". City of Ottawa. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
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