I grew up in Alberta and I remember the Progressive Conservative/Reform split from the late 80s, early 90s. One big thing that came out of it that established the Reform as a legitimate party was the fact that multiple sitting PCs switched their allegiance to the Reform Party of Canada. Thus, the Reform party had seats in parliament and their leader was henceforth allowed to attend the leadership debates during the election. The Green party has been polling regularly above 10% nationwide for almost a year now, but without a sitting MP, the traditional media would deem them not “viable” and Elizabeth May would be unable to participate in the leadership debates.
Well, starting today, the Green Party of Canada officially has an MP sitting in parliament. While many people will say this is a sellout because this person crossed the floor, I find it to be a coup for the Green Party. This is simply because at this point, the traditional media has no excuse for not allowing Elizabeth May into the leadership debates and it has been seen in the past that not being at the leadership debates pretty much destroys your party’s chances in Canada for election.
So, congratulations to Elizabeth May, hopefully this will make bigger news than it has so far. I know many people are upset because there is a general hatred of party jumping in Canada, but I think in the long run this is beneficial for Canadian democracy as it gives a party with 10%+ of the population willing to vote for it a voice in Canadian politics.
1h
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=68a0f811-aa91-4296-9fa4-b2f9a31a572b)
This is a great thing for democracy. It gives a bigger voice to the “little guy” in Canada, and in fact a wide range of Canadians. People who are against it are against democracy because they are looking after their own selfish interests, and not the interests of the wider community.
Comment by Saskboy — August 30, 2008 @ 12:10 pm
You mean we may be able to hear what the Green Party is all about in a leaders debate now? We may be able to find out about this party that has been receiving federal funding for years?
It’s about time! Damn the media consortium for censoring our democratic choices for us. Yeah - you heard me Peter Kent!
Comment by Chris — August 31, 2008 @ 6:47 am
The Greens will remain what they have always been - irrelevant, and only useful as a place for moderate Tories to park a protest vote without giving it to the Grits or the dippers.
The reason they haven’t had a person in the house before this is simple - the central party exploits the well-meaning naifs who run at the local level in order to gain the percentage they need to qualify for their vote subsidy, rather than focusing on winnable seats.
Finally, I’m not opposed to the Greens because I am against democracy, nor is anyone else who doesn’t like this upstart party. In fact, I’m perfectly happy that there are more voices calling for environmental accountability on the national stage.
My problem is that this party is not progressive or left-wing in any way, and have deep ties to the Tories, whether its May or her predecessor. Seriously, the New Democrats are far more realiable, and actually have a real effect in the house of commons. More dippers will actually lead to progressive environmental policies, whereas one green will be like a fart in the wind.
Comment by Prairieguy — August 31, 2008 @ 10:16 am
Have you seen the NDP in Saskatchewan Prairieguy? They were fine with the status quo of coal power all through their history. The NDP are far from perfect or reliable.
Comment by Saskboy — August 31, 2008 @ 5:02 pm