On Saturday June 16, the Ottawa South Riding Association of the Green Party of Canada held a nomination meeting and picnic. After much good food, discussion amongst the attendees, speeches by both candidates and a question and answer period, Dr. Qais Ghanem was selected by the membership.

Local Green Party members are excited about being represented by such a respected Doctor, Activist and Communicator. His personal motto of, "Stop Complaining, Start Contributing", is one that should resonate well with all voters.

Dr. Qais Ghanem is a physician, teacher, broadcaster, activist and poet. He is a Graduate of the University of Edinburgh and now is on the Faculty of the University of Ottawa and practices medicine at the Ottawa Hospital and the National Defense Medical Centre. He has over 20 medical publications. He is past president of the Canadian Society of Clinical Neurophysiologists 2002-2005.

In his voluntary non-professional capacity, Dr. Ghanem has been Past President of the Arab Canadian University Graduates Association (1992-2002), Past Chair of the Education Committee of Ottawa Chapter of Fair Vote Canada, member of the Ottawa Chapter of the Council of Canadians and a member of the Ottawa Health Coalition (for universal public health care). In 2002, he was also the initiator and co-founder of Potlucks for Peace, a dialogue group of Jews and Arabs in Ottawa.

Dr. Ghanem's broadcaster and activist roles have lead to a weekly Friday noon radio show on CHIN Radio 97.9FM entitled Dialogue with Diversity. He is also a published poet and experienced speaker. Dr. Ghanem is quite familiar with utilizing media and internet technologies to spread important messages to the public. His interest in breaking down barriers between different groups led him to start a webpage entitled Coming Events, chronologically listing the social and political events of all ethnic and social groups in Ottawa.

Dr. Ghanem was born in Yemen, moved to Canada 37 years ago and has lived in Ottawa South for the past 13 years. He speaks English, French, Arabic and basic Italian. He is married with two daughters and one grandson. His personal motto is SCSC which stands for Stop Complaining - Start Contributing. Running for the Green Party in the next Federal Election is his way of contributing to building a better future for his and all other grandchildren. He hopes to make a palpable difference.