By Mark Taliano
I’d be more inclined to vote for the Green Party Of Canada if they’d simply change their name.
Green Party leader Elizabeth May barred from federal leaders' debates
The million or so supporters of the party don’t seem to mind, but the name evokes connotations of hippies and Flower Power, or some kind of marginalized movement, and the Party is substantively quite different.
Its philosophical basis of environmental stewardship means it is opposed to subsidies for the fossil fuel industry and the nuclear industry on the basis that such incentives are counter-productive to a balanced and sustainable economy that serves the public well being. Translation? They’re concerned about long-term public welfare rather than short-term corporate profits. The party sees what science sees, which is that if we don’t transition right now to non-carbon and non-nuclear sources for our energy needs, then we’re making a catastrophic blunder. (The Japanese nuclear catastrophe should be enough of an incentive to move away from nuclear, and, by extension, carbon fuels, but some federal parties don’t share that opinion.)
Aligning themselves with this mandate, then, are Green Party policies which include their opposition to further corporate taxes cuts, but also initiatives such as their opposition to increases in E.I premiums.
Monies generated from these policies would help make alternate energy sources mainstream, create countless jobs and industries, and render the economy and the environment more sustainable.
Green Party voices deserve a spot at the televised leaders’ debates, and they deserve a spot in the House of Commons. We owe it to ourselves, and to our democracy.
Maybe they’ll even change their name to something more suitable. How about The Progressive Party Of Sustainable Growth?
Mark Taliano is a Niagara resident and frequent contributor to Niagara At Large.
(Share your comments below on the decision by a “consortium” of broadcasters to exclude Green Party leader Elizabeth May from the federal leadership debates to be televised later this month and visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to residents in our greater Niagara region and beyond.)
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Why focus on a name – policy and integrity are far more important and since there is not much of that out there in this election we will keep on electing these ???????????
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The whole system must change – start by eliminating political parties
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How about a “No Bullshit Party”? Great name if such a thing were to exist.
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Green party should be invited to the table to debate considering they have approximately 1,000,000 supporters. This (no invite) happened the last election, why is it happening again? We also have a huge problem with voter turnout, I wonder why?
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The Green party has fundamental principles that are shared by Greens around the world. They have elected members to legislatures around the world and are the fastest growing political movement on the planet. The name is everything if you take the time to review their history. Sadly, most writers and pundits seem to lazy to take the time.
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I share Thomas L. Freidman’s view that “Green” needs to go mainstream, and if it doesn’t we’ll be courting ( as we currently are) planetary disaster. One million supporters is great, but if more Canadians believed the science, the Green party would have a majority. One of the problems for some people is the associations (which I described). They vote by tradition etc. without buying into the issues. You’ll notice that my articles are very “green” oriented. While the name isn’t everything, I would suggest that if it sounded more mainstream, we might get more supporters from the more “traditional” parties. Another example: I would suggest that the “Greens” are far more “progressive” than the Conservatives, so why not include that in the name? Another example: the Green party (like all parties) deals with all issues pertaining to the governance of the country; the name, to voters who are less informed, might suggest otherwise. It’s time for Green to go mainstream and form a majority, even if that means changing the name somewhat. A rose by any other name is still a rose, likewise for a Green.
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Thomas Friedman, from Hot, Flat, And Crowded, page 213: “The problem with `green`, in America at least …it was named by its opponents. They named it `liberal,` `tree-hugging,` ‘sissy,`… Well, I am here to say … that green is none of those things. No, green is `geopolitical,“geostrategic,` `patriotic.` Green is the new red, white, and blue.” ( So, for Canadians, green should be the new red and white.)
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A Party whose foundation is based on carbon fears and hypotheses won’t resonate with the vast majority. They are right and evidently we’re all too stupid to see it. When it’s all said and done that’s the message.
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They need to resonate with more Canadians, and they to be included in the leadership debates.
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…Green parties, as with their seminal incarnations like the Ecology party in the U.K. or the Values party in New Zealand, share an ideology for sustainable politics. Having been around for 30 years now, the Green movement has been making steady inroads in democracies with proper electoral systems. As young people get older the comfort level with Green policies and there relevance will result in more candidates elected, more policies borrowed by others. Like liberalism, conservatism, and socialism before it, Green ideology will take its place, without an ism I might add.
…The Green movement has a complete and considered ideology, messing with the name for some perceived temporary success will not be a good strategy. The problem for the Greens is not their name, the problem is a disengaged public that allows a self-interested media and political opponents to define them.
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The Green Party is now the party that was just elected to run the state that Angela Merkel comes from, they are a large party in Brazil, making in roads in the UK and Ireland. We in Canada elect the same old tired partys and expect a different outcome.
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In Europe, unlike North America, Green seems to have gone mainstream. “Conservative” parties are “green.” Europeans accept the scientific fact of Global Warming. I wish we could say the same thing about North Americans.
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If you feel that you would like to support Green Candidates, check out on line the Green Party(Niagara) Shawn Willick a school teacher from Fort Erie is the local candidate , I have a Green Party sign on my lawn, last election in some ridings the Greens garnered more votes then the NDP, the young people are really interested and gung ho on the Green Party, I am the local adminstrator for Niagara,assistant to the President Karen Fraser.
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Thanks for the information, George. I hope to vote on Earth Day. Let’s hope we get tons of young people out to vote Green.
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