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Green Party Not Serious Part of Upcoming Federal Elections

By crooky | September 8, 2008

Under and hour ago, it was annouced that the Green Party of Canada would not be allowed to participate in scheduled, televised debates between Prime Ministerial candidates in October. This decision was made by a panel of five senior television broadcast editors but was backed by the NDP, Liberals and Conservative parties who said they wouldn’t participate in any debate that the Green Party is involved in.

My initial reaction was outrage since the Green Party got 4% of the popular vote in the 2006 election and is tied with the NDP in current polls. After some rumination and more reading, I’m not convinced that the Green Party should be a part of televised debates. The Bloc Quebecois doesn’t get to participate and they actually have elected MPs. Let’s examine why the Green Party is not a serious player in the 2008 Federal Election:

1. Not Ready to Lead

You might not know this but the party system is not part of our constitution in Canada. At a theoretical level, you’re supposed to be voting for your local representative and once all of the seats have been won, the parliament will vote to decide on who will be the Prime Minister. However, by convention, we have a party system where Prime Ministerial candidates are chosen before the election with the understanding that if a party wins the election, their Prime Ministerial candidate becomes Prime Minister.

However, the Green Party has made an unusual decision to make a “non-agression” deal with the Liberal Party of Canada and the leader of the Green Party - Elizabeth May - has endorsed Stephane Dion (the Liberal Prime Ministerial candidate) as the best candidate for the leader of Canada.

What does that mean? Is the Green Party a de facto sub-party of the Liberal Party now? If she’s not running for Prime Minister, what is she running for? A senior cabinet position? If the last election is anything to go by, she’s not even going to win a seat.

Note: The Green Party currently has an MP but he’s a recent defector from another party - he wasn’t elected in an a Green Party candidate.

2. Single-Platform Party

I have a problem with the party system in general (partisan politics are keeping Canada in the dark ages) but I really hate what are essentially protest parties. Like the Marijuana Party, the Green Party doesn’t have much in the way of policies beyond its main issue.

Feel free to check out the Green Party’s website and see if you can find any concrete ideas for Canada’s future aside from protecting the environment [READ]. I found a small snippet on eliminating poverty but it’s basically proposing a new welfare system - hardly innovative.

3. Badly in Need of a Coalition

There are a lot of commonalities between the Green Party and the NDP but the Green Party has aligned itself with the Liberals. The Liberals will throw them to the wolves if it looks like its going to hurt their chances of getting elected whereas the NDP could benefit from a popular vote boost.

The relationship the Green Party has with the Liberals is not a true coalition and they need one - badly - if they want to get any elected seats in Parliament.

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Topics: Policy, social issues |

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