Green Party candidates, 1997 Canadian federal election

The Green Party of Canada fielded a number of candidates in the 1997 federal election, none of whom were elected.

Sol Candel (Calgary Southwest)
Candel is co-owner of the Movie Poster Shop, a family-operated business that collects and displays vintage movie posters. He has led the Calgary branch of the business since 1979. The store also displays recumbent bicycles, which Candel rides on a regular basis. The building is powered by solar thermal installation, which Candel says has resulted in significant financial savings.

He has been a member of the Green Party of Canada since at least 1990. In late 1992, Candel argued on behalf of the Green Party that Canada should reduce its rate of immigration to 100,000 per year. He did not make this suggestion for xenophobic reasons, but rather to promote a gradual decline in the national population base to promote self-sustaining energy and agricultural consumption.

He first campaigned for the House of Commons in 1993, and finished a distant sixth against Reform Party leader Preston Manning. Commenting on this election in 1997, he wryly remarked "I beat out all the other little fringe guys". He was forty-five at the time. He has also campaigned for the Alberta Greens.

Candel has postgraduate degrees in international politics and business administration. In 2005, he organized the Eco-Rednecks Salon and Social Group for other environmental activists in Alberta. The title is an ironic reference to Alberta's "redneck" image in the rest of Canada.

David James Cooper (Scarborough Southwest)
Cooper was a journalist at the time of the election. According to the Toronto Star newspaper, he campaigned for the Green Party out of a belief that "mainstream voting creates apathy, cynicism, mediocrity and corruption". His campaign called for "environmentally sound programs, local democracy, sustainable development and long-term planning" (Toronto Star, 30 May 1997).