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The Green Party
While Harper has found his groove and Dion has lost his mojo, as noted in the recent Maclean’s issue, the Green Party has made a surprise appearance in the media. Elizabeth May has emerged as a leader capable of connecting with questions and speaking passionately for the need to fight climate change. Since the recent inclusion of May in the national television debates, the Green Party’s profile has significantly increased. Poll after poll shows public support for the Green Party of Canada rising steadily to between ten and 12 per cent nationally and up to 15 per cent here in BC.
Leader of the Green Party
June 9, 1954
54 Years Old
Elizabeth May was born in Connecticut. She now lives in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia with her daughter and is running for the Central Nova electoral district.
May received her Law Degree from Dalhousie Law School in 1983. She is a very devout Anglican, and is studying at Saint Paul University to become an ordained Anglican minister.
The Good – Elizabeth May provides some much-needed flavour to the usual “old boys’ club” of political party leaders. The bullies may have tried to keep her out of the debates, but to no avail! Girls can play politics too!
The Bad – At the Calgary Stampede, Elizabeth May was the worst-dressed political cowboy: she came in a “distant last place.”
The Ugly – May used to be a senior policy advisor for the Conservative Government. She may have repented of her old ways, but perhaps this is all an elaborate ploy to prop up the Tory regime by taking votes away from the Liberals and the NDP.
This rise of the environment as an election issue is due to a number of factors, including greater public interest in environmental issues, such as climate change and the appearance of green politics at the federal level. The Green Party, which is grounded in pro-environment policies, has grown into an established political party in Canada. Especially consider the Green Party if you’re concerned with issues of ecology, conservation and environment, as well as ideas from the feminist and peace movements. In addition to democratic and ecological issues, green politics is concerned with civil liberties, social justice and nonviolence. The Green Party offers practical solutions: down-to-earth policies in addressing environmental issues with less emphasis upon economic implications compared to the other major national political parties.
The Green Party’s economic platform includes a carbon tax very similar to the Liberal “Green Shift” plan, although it is explained more articulately by May than Dion. This involves instituting a full range of “polluter pays” taxes, including a carbon tax designed to reduce the use of fossil fuels by making them more expensive to produce and burn. The Green Party claims that these taxes will be largely revenue neutral. The revenues generated will be offset by reduced taxes on personal income, payrolls and on green products and technologies. The new taxes will also be non-regressive, so the carbon tax will include a rebate program for low-income Canadians living in rural areas and other groups disproportionately affected.
A few other highlights of the Green platform include:
- A disciplined schedule to gradually pay off debt
- Reestablishing a federal minimum wage of $10 an hour under the Canada Labour Code
- Reverse the Conservative GST cut by raising it back to 6 per cent
- Improving Canada’s rail system
- Forgive 50 per cent of a student’s government student loan when they complete a degree or certificate program
- A withdrawal from NAFTA and a renegotiation of the world’s largest trading partnership
- Beginning the process of withdrawing Canadian NATO Forces from Afghanistan no later than February 2009.
Hmm… I wish I’d seen this earlier. So just a few comments here,
I would actually completely reject the line here that says the Green Party is not as concerned with economic issues as other parties. In fact, the Green Party’s environmental platform is actually completely grounded in economics. The way the GPC proposes to fight carbon emissions and climate change is through an economic approach. The GPC believes that the only way to truly change behaviour is to use economic incentives. The foundation of the platform is income tax reductions, with a tax shift on carbon. The reasoning is, if people get more money back on each paycheque, they will have more money to make the decision for themselves. This to me, is explicitly economics. (which this article does a very good job in describing a bit later on) In fact, the Green Party has one of the only fully costed publicly available platforms.
Also, I would disagree with your statement that the GPC is fully a “peace movement”.
In fact, most people are surprised to find out that the GPC doesn’t call for unilateral disengagement in Afghanistan like the NDP. Part of the Green Party’s platform acknowledges that Canada “has a role” in Afghanistan. There might be some rhetorical arguments about what exactly that means, but good things are happening in Afghanistan, and the GPC acknowledges that military forces will likely have to remain there for at least some time yet.
Hehe, one final note about “the ugly”. Many people are very surprised by this as well. May did work for Brian Mulroney. This is not an ugly though! Delving into Green fiscal policy shows a party that has a nuanced, but very fiscally “conservative” and responsible platform. The GPC is not a party “of the left”.
In fact, the GPC is the only true conservative party in Canada. Small Government. Responsible Government. Responsible choices. A better tomorrow.
And those are just my comments! Otherwise this piece was a thorough and great study on the GPC. (ps: the gst rate hike is a bad idea and please feel free to ignore that…)