John Grogan (Canadian politician)

John Grogan (born ca 1951) is a Canadian politician and teacher.

Grogan has lived and worked in the Robson Valley, B.C. for the past 30 years. He has held a variety of jobs -- for the railway, in a sawmill, as a teacher and as a small businessperson. Grogan has been a director of both the Green Party of British Columbia and the Green Party of Canada and was the latter party's candidate for the riding of Prince George-Bulkley Valley in the 1997, and 2000 Federal General Elections. Grogan also ran for the leadership of the Green Party of Canada in 2003 and 2004, winning seven percent of the vote in the latter election. Grogan has associated himself with the fundamental or "fundi" wing of the Green Party of Canada.

John Grogan came to the Green Party as a result of his interest in the global peace movement. Grogan was born and raised in the U.S. and four months after his 18th birthday the US Selective Service granted him 1-0, conscientious objector draft status, ensuring that due to his personal convictions he would not be called to participate in war in any capacity. Just out of high school he quit his employment in the offices of a metals company when he objected to their business practices.

Instead, within the shadows of the nearly complete World Trade Center, Grogan spent the better part his next years volunteering as a paralegal draft counselor at the Merton-Buber House (44 East 3rd); rent paid in part by the Catholic Peace Fellowship and the Jewish Peace Fellowship. He was known for engaging daily with people on the street, raising funds and consciousness in discussion and debate, soliciting signatures for a petition to impeach Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew years before Watergate.

For four months in 1972 John traveled solo through Europe to Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Having spent an increasing amount of time visiting friends in western Canada since 1970, he eventually applied for and received Landed Immigrant status in 1975. He worked as a supply teacher for the Prince George School District for two-and-a-half years prior to moving to the Village of Valemount in the Robson Valley trying his hand briefly at logging and thereafter applying himself to labour as a gandy dancer on the Canadian National Railways for 9 years. He served for years as the Secretary-Treasurer of the union local of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, and was co-chair of the Health and Safety Committee, Mountain Region.

With time on his hands he volunteered with the Valemount Entertainment Society for one year as chair of the local broadcast committee to establish community television for residents in his remote community. He continued as a paid station manager for 7 years at what was once reportedly "the only community access television undertaking in Canada not associated with a cable company". He was and remains an activist for media literacy with a focus on universal access to alternative media. He served as a co-president of Canada's Coalition for Public Information.

John Grogan was the founding president of the Valemount Internet Society, and principal author of a successful first-year Industry Canada "Community Access Program" grant competition, enabling internet access in his remote community, encouraging community economic development.

Grogan has had municipal government experience, having served as a library trustee, Health Communities Committee, and most recently was the principal author of the Memorandum of Incorporation of the Three Valleys Community Development Co-operative. He was also a founding director of the Canoe Valley Youth Society.

He has served as Communications Chair of the Green Party of Canada and as Director-at-Large of the Green Party of British Columbia.

John Grogan let his name stand as a candidate for Green Party leader during the leadership races of February 2003 and August 2004. Grogan ran on a promise to support a principled slate of candidates, the Global Green Principles Caucus, for Council who share a grave concern for the management of the GPC Council in recent times, and the disconnect with what he perceives as a disconnect between the direction of the Green Party of Canada and the Global Green movement.

In the 2004 leadership race, Grogan focussed his speeches on notions of "the ends not justifying the means." Grogan argued that success for the GPC cannot only be measured in terms of achieving $1.75 per vote collected but must also focus on affectating change in the environmental policies of other federal parties.

Grogan came in second place in the 2003 leadership contest with 76 votes compared to 437 for victor Jim Harris and 24 votes for third place finisher Jason Crummey. In the 2004 vote Grogan came in third place with 74 votes.