# David Chernushenko

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

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. He has served on committees and boards of local housing and environment groups, schools and health advisory bodies.
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

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. He also ran as the Green Party candidate in Ottawa South in the 2003 Ontario general election.

### 2006 Green Party leadership bid

On March 30, 2006, David Chernushenko announced his bid for the leadership of the Green Party of Canada. 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. 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.

## National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy

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. Since then, he has launched the Living Lightly multimedia project and produced three documentaries, titled Be the Change (2008), Powerful: Energy for Everyone (2010) and Bike City, Great City (2013).

## Ottawa City Council

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

## Works

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

2018 Ottawa City Council election – Capital Ward :
| Capital Ward (Ward 17) | 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 election – Capital Ward :
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| David Chernushenko (X) | 7206 | 77.53 |
| Scott Blurton | 1788 | 19.19 |
| Espoir Manirambona | 322 | 3.46 |
2010 Ottawa City Council election – Capital 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 | Votes |
| Candidate | # | % |
| 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% |
vte2006 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 | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 66,638 | 100.00 |
| | New Democratic Party hold | New Democratic Party hold | Swing | -1.1 | |
vte2004 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 | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 62,684 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 270 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 62,954 | 70.35 |
vte2003 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 | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 47,669 | 100.0 | +4.11 | $ 78,349.44 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 296 | 0.62 | −0.16 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,965 | 58.77 | +1.03 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 81,614 | | +2.12 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | Swing | +4.96 |
| Source(s) "General Election of October 2, 2003 – Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario."General Election of October 2, 2003 – Statistical Summary". Elections Ontario. Retrieved May 30, 2014."2003 Candidate and Constituency Associations – Candidate Campaign Return (CR-1)". |||||||