Green Party of Canada
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Green Party of Canada | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Active Federal Party | |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Leader | Elizabeth May |
| President | Melanie Ransom |
| Headquarters | Box 997 Station B Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5R1 |
| Political ideology | Green |
| International alignment | Global Greens |
| Colours | Green |
| Website | http://www.greenparty.ca/ |
The Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983.[1] As of August 27, 2006, the party has over 10,000 registered members[2] — making the Greens the largest federal party in Canada without representation in Parliament.
The party has received between 1% and 11% support in various public opinion polls since 2000. In the 2006 federal election, the Green Party of Canada received 4.5% of the total vote but did not win any seats. A Decima Research poll released on December 6, 2006 showed the Green Party currently polling 10% support nationwide.[3]
Elizabeth May is the current Green Party of Canada leader. She was elected on the first ballot by 65% of voting party members on August 26, 2006. After leading the party through the 2004 and 2006 general federal elections, former leader Jim Harris chose not to stand for re-election. On November 21, 2006, May appointed outgoing Green Party of British Columbia leader Adriane Carr and Quebec television host Claude William Genest as Deputy Leaders of the Party.[4] David Chernushenko is the Senior Deputy to the Leader.
Contents |
[edit] Electoral status
The Green Party has run a full slate in the last two elections, fielding candidates in all 308 of the nation's ridings. In the 2006 federal election, the Green Party received about 4.5% of the popular vote, only slightly more than in 2004, despite having received public funding (over $1 million CAD per year) for the first time and receiving more media coverage. In the 2004 federal election, the Green Party received 4.3% of the popular vote. In the 2000 election, it fielded candidates in 111 of 301 ridings.
No Green Party candidate has yet been elected to the federal or provincial level of government in Canada. Members of the party have achieved municipal offices, though most were elected as individuals and not on Green Party slates or labels in local (at least officially) non-partisan municipal elections.
However, some people have been elected with a Green Party affiliation identified directly on the ballot. The first two were Art Vanden Berg, elected as a City Councillor in Victoria, British Columbia, on 20 November 1999, and Roslyn Cassells, elected to the Vancouver Parks Board on the same day.[5] Andrea Reimer was elected as a trustee on the Vancouver School Board in 2002, and Sonya Chandler was elected to the Victoria, BC, council as a Green.
Current Greens in office include Councillor Jane Sterk in Esquimalt, BC and newly elected Councillor Rick Goldring in Burlington, Ontario. Former Councillor Elio Di Iorio was narrowly defeated in his 2006 reelection bid in Richmond Hill, Ontario and former Councillor Rob Strang did not run for reelection in Orangeville, Ontario. The late Richard Thomas served as reeve of Armour Township, Ontario from 2003 until his death in 2006. There are about 16 other Greens elected to local governments in BC.
On October 18, 2006, MP Garth Turner was suspended from the Conservative caucus, and subsequently noted to the press that he was considering reaffiliating himself with the Greens, a decision which would have made him the party's first-ever MP. He later decided to remain as an independent member, although he campaigned on behalf of Green Party leader Elizabeth May in the London North Centre byelection that was held on November 27, 2006.
In that byelection, May received 25.9% of the vote, coming in second place over the Conservatives and the NDP. This is the highest percentage of the vote a Green candidate has ever received in a Federal election.
[edit] Federal leader, funding and factions
Longtime environmental activist and lawyer Elizabeth May won the leadership of the federal Green party at a convention in Ottawa on August 26, 2006. She won with 2,145 votes, or 65.3 per cent of the valid ballots cast and the second-place finisher David Chernushenko, an environmental consultant, collected 1,096 votes or 33.3 per cent of the total.
Previous leader Jim Harris was first elected to the office with over 80% of the vote and the support of the leaders of all of the provincial level Green parties. He was re-elected on the first ballot by 56% of the membership in a leadership challenge vote in August 2004. Tom Manley placed second with over 30% of the vote. A few months after the 2004 convention, Tom Manley was appointed Deputy Leader. (On September 23, 2005, Manley left the party to join the Liberal Party of Canada.)
In the 2004 election, the consortium of Canadian television networks did not invite Jim Harris to the televised leaders debates. This sparked unsuccessful legal actions by the Green Party, a petition by its supporters to have it included, and statements by non-supporters who believed it should be included.
The party secured enough votes in the 2004 election to qualify for the new federal funding, available to parties that received over 2% of the vote. The Green Party received $1.75 per vote it won in the 2004 election for each year leading up to the 2006 election. There was some internal controversy over the distribution and allocation of these funds between central administration and local EDA's and a membership vote was held to resolve the issue. A group of former party activists (two of whom were on the party's federal council), as well as some former NDP members, began a new party, "the Peace and Ecology Party", which they say will have no leader, and adopt a more activist stance, essentially replicating the way the party was organized from 1988-96. This group has not attracted much of a following. Most dissidents have chosen to work within the old party.
The Green Party was also not included in the leaders' debates for the 2006 election.[6] The main reason cited for this was the party's lack of visibility and meaningful input into Canadian federal budgets and bills. Harris was often criticized very harshly within the party for concentrating on internal infighting at exactly the times such input would be required.
[edit] History
Until 2003 the Party had little capacity to organize itself between elections, and as late as 2000 the party had no persistent infrastructure, and was based out of the same office as the Green Party of Ontario. It received substantial loans from Wayne Crookes, a BC businessman who had previously also made large donations to the Green Party of British Columbia. Crookes' influence is one of the main dividing factors factions cite in their complaints about Harris and his allies, who were perceived often as doing his will.
[edit] Internet innovation
The Green Party was the first Canadian political party on the Internet, with almost full party contacts across Canada for provincial and federal through e-mail and FidoNet back in the late 1980s.
While the organizing and election planning was centralized, policy development was to be decentralized. In February 2004, the Green Party of Canada Living Platform was initiated by the Party's former Head of Platform and Research, Michael Pilling, to open the party's participatory democracy to the public to help validate its policies against broad public input. It also made it easy for candidates to share their answers to public interest group questionnaires, find the best answers to policy questions, and for even rural and remote users, and Canadians abroad, to contribute to Party policy intelligence. Its innovative Rank a Plank system let net users "rank planks" in the 2004 platform, and this gathered some 60,000 online votes (on which planks were key) by election day.
These innovations were wholly abandoned on February 9, 2005, just after a harshly worded memo from Crookes in which he claimed that "dysfunctional" elements of the party were "driving out the talented". Living Platform went down for days and returned with every single web address changed. It never recovered, though it is still visible.[citation needed]
[edit] Policy direction
The direction of the 2004 platform, while retaining similar ecological themes as before, was perceived as shifting from a centre-left to a centrist stance or even centre-right position. An emphasis on a green tax shift which favoured partially reducing income and corporate taxes (while increasing taxes on polluters and energy consumers) created questions as to whether the Green Party was still on the left of the political spectrum, or was taking a more eco-capitalist approach by reducing progressive taxation in favour of regressive taxation. Green Party policy writers have challenged this interpretation by claiming that any unintended regressive tax consequences would be fully offset by changes in tax rates and categories as well as an 'eco-tax" refund for those who pay no tax. These adjustments are currently published 2006 policy and part of the Green Tax Shift concept.
As early as 2000, the party had published platform comparisons indicating the reasons why supporters of any of the five other Canadian federal political parties should consider voting Green. The Greens have always had right-wing, leftist and centrist factions that have been ascendant at different times in the party's history. Many Greens also claim that this traditional Left-Right political spectrum analysis does not accurately capture the pragmatic ecological orientation of an evolving Green Party.
The ecumenical approach (expressing affinities with all Canadian political tendencies and making cases to voters on all parts of the left-right spectrum) has been advocated by those who believe their success can be measured by the degree to which other parties adopt Green Party policies. It is however difficult to discern the degree to which this process has contributed to phenomena like the Liberal Party of Canada adopting several key items of the Green program, such as accelerated Capital Cost Allowance deductions restricted to sustainable technology only, and the adoption of the ecological and social indicators and green procurement rules Greens have long advocated. The relative degree of influence in developing these policies of Greens, non-partisan environmental groups and the party's own Green wing is difficult to discern.
Still, the party was somewhat embarrassed in 2004 to find Greenpeace and the Sierra Club of Canada ranking its environmental platform slightly below that of the NDP (a fact the NDP made much of in some closely-contested ridings in an attempt to encourage Greens and other environmentalists to vote for them strategically). The 2005/06 Green Party platform once again received the highest environmental marks of any federal party.
[edit] Policies
The GPC had originally adopted a form of the Ten Key Values originally authored by the United States Green Party.
The August 2002 Convention adopted the Six Principles of the Charter of the Global Greens, as stated by the Global Greens Conference held in Canberra, Australia in 2001. These principles are the only ones included in the GPC constitution.
[edit] Membership exclusions
In 1998, the party adopted a rule that forbids membership in any other federal political party. This was intended to prevent the party from being taken over. This change to the constitution was discussed at a duly constituted GPC General Meeting and was passed by a very large majority. This rule does not apply to staffers or advisors.
In the past, some Green Party members have been comfortable openly working with members of other political parties. For instance, GPC members Peter Bevan-Baker and Mike Nickerson worked with Liberal MP Joe Jordan to develop the Canada Well-Being Measurement Act which calls upon the government to implement Genuine Progress Indicators (GPI). Key parts of this Act passed in the 37th Canadian Parliament in 2003, but astonishingly the Act disappeared from sight in the 2004 platform.
A small number of Greens who advocate the more cooperative approach to legislation object to the new rule not to hold cross-memberships, a tool they occasionally employed.
[edit] Election results
2006 National Election
- Percentage nationally: 4.5%
- Number of votes: 665,940
- Best province: Alberta, 6.6%
- Best riding (percentage): Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, 12.9%
- Best riding (number of votes): Ottawa Centre, 6,766 votes
- Best riding (ranking): Wild Rose, 2nd behind Conservative
- Notable mentions, 3rd place finish ahead of the NDP: Calgary West & Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound
Best riding percentage-wise in:
- Newfoundland and Labrador: Random—Burin—St. George's, 1.4%
- Prince Edward Island: Egmont, 5.2%
- Nova Scotia: Halifax, 5.2%
- New Brunswick: Madawaska—Restigouche, 3.3%
- Quebec: Westmount—Ville-Marie, 8.3%
- Ontario: Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, 12.9%
- Manitoba: Winnipeg Centre, 7.0%
- Saskatchewan: Souris—Moose Mountain, 5.2%
- Alberta: Calgary Centre-North, 11.8%
- British Columbia: British Columbia Southern Interior, 11.3%
- Territories: Nunavut, 5.9%
| Election | Candidates nominated | Seats won | Total votes | % of popular vote | % in ridings contested |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 60 | 0 | 26 921 | 0.21% | 0.90% |
| 1988 | 68 | 0 | 47 228 | 0.36% | 1.44% |
| 1993 | 79 | 0 | 33 049 | 0.24% | 0.86% |
| 1997 | 79 | 0 | 55 583 | 0.43% | 1.54% |
| 2000 | 111 | 0 | 104 502 | 0.81% | 2.11% |
| 2004 | 308 | 0 | 582 247 | 4.31% | 4.31% |
| 2006 | 308 | 0 | 665 940 | 4.49% | 4.49% |
Although the party did not win a seat in the 2004 election, 4.31% of the vote was a significant improvement. Starting in 2004, Canadian political parties who receive 2% of the vote in the last election are eligible for a subsidy ($1.75 per vote in 2004) from the federal government. The 2004 election results earned the Greens around $1 million CAD per year.
Based on the 2006 vote, the Greens will receive $1.2 million CAD in federal funding each year until the next federal election.
[edit] Leadership election
A leadership vote was held at the party's August 2006 convention. On April 24, 2006, Jim Harris announced his intention not to stand for re-election as party leader.[7]
Three candidates officially entered the leadership race before the close of nominations on May 31, 2006.
David Chernushenko, On March 30, 2006, who ran in both the 2004 and 2006 elections in Ottawa Centre and received the highest vote count of any Green Party candidate in 2006 with 6,765 votes, declared his intention to run. Mr. Chernushenko's candidacy was confirmed by the party on May 16, 2006.
On May 9, 2006, Elizabeth May, who only weeks earlier had resigned from her position as Executive Director of the Sierra Club of Canada after leading the organization for 13 years, became the second person to enter the race. Environmentalist David Suzuki had been encouraging May to enter the leadership contest.[8] Ms. May's candidacy was confirmed by the party on May 29, 2006.
In late May 2006, Jim Fannon, a three-time Green Party of Canada candidate and current Chief Financial Officer for the Green Party of Ontario's St. Catharines Constituency Association announced his intention to run. Mr. Fannon's candidacy was confirmed by the party on May 31, 2006.
May won the leadership with 65% of the vote on the first ballot.
See also Green Party of Canada leadership convention, 2006
[edit] Leaders
- Trevor Hancock (1983–1984)
- Seymour Trieger (1984–1988)
- Kathryn Cholette (1988–1990)
- Chris Lea (1990–1996)
- Wendy Priesnitz (1996–1997)
- Harry Garfinkle (1997) (interim)
- Joan Russow (1997–2001)
- Chris Bradshaw (2001–2003) (interim)
- Jim Harris (2003–2006)
- Elizabeth May (2006–present)
| Part of the Politics series on Green politics |
|
|
|
Worldwide green parties: Global Greens · Africa · Americas · Asia-Pacific · Europe |
| Principles |
|
Four Pillars |
| Issues |
|
|
[edit] Affiliations
The GPC is a member of the Federation of Green Parties of the Americas and recognized by the Global Greens as representing Canadian Greens federally.
[edit] Peace and Ecology Party of Canada
The Peace and Ecology Party of Canada (in French, Parti d'écologie et paix du Canada) was a left-wing political party founded in 2005 by members of the Green Party of Canada who disagreed with what they considered to be the right-wing direction taken under the leadership of Jim Harris, and by disaffected members of the New Democratic Party who have left their party for similar reasons. The party no longer maintains its website, but does have a number of "groups" on Yahoo!Groups and Yahoo!Groups Canada devoted to various issues such as labour, the environment, and bioregionalism. The largest "group" is pepcurious, which is intended for people interested in knowing more about the party. All of these groups have had little or no activity. The party was not registered with Elections Canada, did not run candidates in the 2006 federal election, and may in fact be defunct.
[edit] References
- ^ History of the Green Party of Canada, www.greenparty.ca
- ^ GPC Leader Elizabeth May on CTV Newsnet (video clip), August 27, 2006
- ^ Alexander Panetta, "Liberals open up four-point lead over Tories in new Decima poll," Canada.com, December 6, 2006
- ^ Elizabeth May Announces Prominent Greens Adriane Carr and Claude William Genest as Deputy Leaders of federal Green Party Green Party of Canada press release, November 21, 2006.
- ^ City of Vancouver, Election Summary Report November 20,1999
- ^ "Leaders' Debate: Green Party has earned its spot," Green Party of Canada press release, November 30, 2005.
- ^ "Harris to give up on Green leadership," Globe and Mail, April 24, 2006.
- ^ Dennis Buekert, "Veteran environmentalist ponders Green Party leadership run," Toronto Star, April 14, 2006.
[edit] See also
- List of political parties in Canada
- Green Party candidates, 2006 Canadian federal election
- Green Party candidates, 2004 Canadian federal election
- Green Party candidates, 1997 Canadian federal election
- Green Party candidates, 1993 Canadian federal election
- Green Party of Canada leadership conventions
- Green Party of Canada Shadow Cabinet
[edit] External link
 Green parties in Canada |
|
|---|---|
| Federal: | Green Party of Canada |
| Provincial: | Alberta - British Columbia - Manitoba Newfoundland and Labrador - Nova Scotia Ontario - Prince Edward Island - Quebec Saskatchewan |
| Federal Political Parties of Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Represented in the House of Commons:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other parties recognized by Elections Canada:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Federal Elections | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Results summaries - Electoral districts) 1867 · 1872 · 1874 · 1878 · 1882 · 1887 · 1891 · 1896 · 1900 · 1904 · 1908 · 1911 · 1917 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
