David Chernushenko

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title: "David Chernushenko" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["green-party-of-canada-candidates-in-the-2004-canadian-federal-election", "green-party-of-canada-candidates-in-the-2006-canadian-federal-election", "living-people", "1963-births", "canadian-people-of-ukrainian-descent", "queen's-university-at-kingston-alumni", "alumni-of-the-university-of-cambridge", "green-party-of-ontario-candidates-in-ontario-provincial-elections", "politicians-from-calgary", "canadian-unitarian-universalists", "ottawa-city-councillors", "canadian-documentary-film-directors", "canadian-documentary-film-producers", "film-directors-from-ontario", "film-producers-from-ontario"] description: "Canadian politician (born 1963)" topic_path: "politics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Chernushenko" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Canadian politician (born 1963) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
image	Chernushenko.jpg
name	David Chernushenko
birth_date
birth_place	Calgary, Alberta
office	Ottawa City Councillor
term_start	December 1, 2010
term_end	December 1, 2018
predecessor	Clive Doucet
successor	Shawn Menard
party	Non-aligned
Green Party of Canada (until 2008)
Green Party of Ontario
constituency	Capital Ward
office3	Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Canada
term3	2006–2008
::

| image = Chernushenko.jpg | name = David Chernushenko | birth_date = | birth_place = Calgary, Alberta | office = Ottawa City Councillor | term_start = December 1, 2010 | term_end = December 1, 2018 | predecessor = Clive Doucet | successor = Shawn Menard | party = Non-aligned Green Party of Canada (until 2008) Green Party of Ontario | constituency = Capital Ward | majority = | spouse = | office3 = Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Canada | term3 = 2006–2008

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, and raised in Ottawa, Ontario, 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081016.wgreens17/BNStory/politics/home?cid=al_gam_mostview|title=May fends off calls for her resignation|publisher=The Glode and Mail|date=2008-10-17}}

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

| last = Chernushenko | first = David | author-link = David Chernushenko | year = 2019 | title = Burning Souls | publisher = Green & Gold Inc | location = Ottawa | isbn = 978-1-234-56789-7 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/guidetolcshinfor00doej

| last = Chernushenko | first = David | author-link = David Chernushenko |author2=Anna Van der Kamp | year = 2001 | title = Sustainable Sport Management: Running an Environmentally, Socially and Economically Responsible Organization | publisher = United Nations Environment Programme | isbn = 92-807-2072-4

| last = Chernushenko | first = David | author-link = David Chernushenko | year = 1994 | title = Greening our games : running sports events and facilities that won't cost the Earth | publisher = Centurion Publishing & Marketing | location = Ottawa | isbn = 0-9697571-5-8

Electoral record

::data[format=table]

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
::

::data[format=table title=""]

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
::

::data[format=table]

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
::

::data[format=table]

2006 Green Party of Canada leadership election	Candidate	Votes	#	%	Total	3,283	100.0%
Elizabeth May	2,145	65.34
David Chernushenko	1,096	33.38
Jim Fannon	29	0.88
None of the above	13	0.40
::

References

References

1. "Ottawa Votes: What you need to know about the candidates in Capital ward".
2. Chernushenko, David. (2001). "Sustainable Sport Management: Running an Environmentally, Socially and Economically Responsible Organization". United Nations Environment Programme.
3. "My Walk". Ottawa Greens.
4. (2006-01-20). "Chernushenko, again". Ottawa Citizen.
5. (2006-03-30). "Chernushenko announces Green Party leadership bid". CBC Ottawa.
6. (2006-08-26). "Renegotiate NAFTA, new Green party leader says". CBC News.
7. link. (2012-10-25 ", ''Ottawa Citizen'', July 10, 2007)
8. Silven, Kirsten E.. (27 May 2011). "Film Review – Powerful: Energy for Everyone". Earth Times.
9. (9 July 2013). "Chernushenko premiers film encouraging a more bike-friendly Ottawa". Ottawa Citizen.
10. [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/chernushenko-running-for-city-council-seat-1.886485 "Chernushenko running for city council seat"], ''CBC News'', June 18, 2010
11. [http://ottawa.ca/city_hall/elections/results_en.html] {{Webarchive. link. (2010-11-13 City of Ottawa: Official Results — Election 2010)
12. "Councillor".
13. "2018 Election Results". [[City of Ottawa]].

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