A vote for Grice will send a message to every federal party that it’s time for a carbon tax. A vote for Grice will strengthen Green party leader Elizabeth May’s sensible argument that she should be allowed to participate in the televised federal leaders’ debates before the next general election. A vote for Grice will announce to the country that the first-past-the-post system is an anachronism that undermines democracy and public participation. A vote for Grice will warn New Democrats that they should work cooperatively with environmentalists rather than engaging in drive-by smears.Yeow! The usually Dipper mag had some harsh words for the NDP.Finally, a vote for Grice will reward a young man who has worked extremely hard and sacrificed making money because he wants to save the planet. Isn’t this a good enough reason for anyone who lives in Vancouver Quadra to make the relatively minor effort of visiting a polling station on Monday and placing an X on the ballot?
The NDP too often practises politics as if it’s an exclusive club. And if you’re not a member of its club, the NDP sometimes won’t work with you. Witness the NDP’s eagerness to attack Liberals, often more vehemently than Conservatives. It is a dangerous attitude in light of the magnitude of the challenges posed by climate change. It helps explain why the federal party has sometimes done a poor job of reaching out to some immigrant communities and people of colour in Vancouver.
Yeah, I've noticed that the NDP seems to lash out against any and all non-NDPers. That attitude just might be costing them support. We're gonna be in a minority government situation as long as the BQ maintains even half of its current strength. Canadians need parliamentarians who can work together. Of course, it can go too far. Dion has taken working together to an obscene level.
Speakin' of the by-election, Chris Tindal's doin' good against Bob Rae. The CBC puts it as a race between Tindal and Rae.(MP3) The Dipper El-Farouk Khaki sounds like he's a nice, friendly feller. He an' Chris Tindal have hugged 5 times. Tindal an' Bob Rae only hugged once and the snootytoot Con candidate never even hugged Chris once.
JB
3 comments:
I'm a former NDP supporter who is hoping for a Liberal win, but I do think the Green Party has been a positive force as far as trying to elevate political discourse and not stooping to misleading slogans or treating the electorate as idiots. I'm particularly impressed with Chris Tindal. Political discourse in Canada currently needs all the help it can get, and I applaud the Green Party on this.
Thankee fer chimin' in, CLH. One of the big things the GPC wants to do is to "change the way we do politics." Canadians are crying out for civilized discourse and an end to the constant mudslinging. The GPC doesn't even have a campaign "war chest" like the other parties do. We call it a "hope chest." I think Obama stole that theme from us. ;)
JB
I dunno about this whole "NDP are negative while the Greens are sweetness and light" notion. When exactly has Elizabeth May ever said anything remotely positive about the NDP? When has she even gone so "high road" as to discuss the NDP in terms of their environmental policies?
For an outfit that wants to "change the way we do politics" and end constant mudslinging, the Green leadership spends a fair amount of time slinging mud. You elevate discourse by elevating it, not by spending all your time complaining about how horrible and unelevated everyone else is.
It's kind of ironic. We see a lot of criticism of the NDP for allegedly going after the Liberals rather than the Conservatives, even though the Liberals are theoretically closer to NDP positions than the Conservatives are; it is suggested this is because the NDP are trying to pick up Liberal votes not Con votes, so it's a tactical move. But the whole thing's a crock--the NDP *don't* go after the Liberals as much as they go after the Conservatives. And except on a few "So-Con" issues, Liberal policy seems little different from Conservative policy; both want to cut corporate and rich people taxes, talk about the environment while doing nothing, kill the welfare state, studiously avoid job creation or industrial policies, quietly erode public health care, promote economic/security deep integration with the US, yadda yadda. But despite this, the NDP actually criticize the Cons much more harshly.
The irony comes in here: The Greens, if they're really going to elevate political discourse, might be expected to criticize other parties more in proportion to how bad their environmental policies and records are. The Liberal environmental record is terrible and their policies are vague at best. The NDP provincial record is mixed, but the federal party's policies, as environmental groups generally agree, are very good. Yet few seem to point out the oddity of the Green party leader consistently giving the Liberals a pass while running down the NDP. The most plausible reason would be the cynical one that she thinks the most readily available votes are NDP votes. So the Greens *really are* doing what I see the NDP accused of in various places including right here, yet when the Greens do it that's part of "civilized discourse" and "changing the way we do politics".
Come on!
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