Green Party will not run a candidate in Labrador by-election

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

The truth is, the Liberals, NDP and Conservatives are all quite different. There is no close overlap such that a merger makes sense. The closest, imnsho, is actually Conservative and Liberal, not Liberal and NDP.

Each of the three parties has its hardline supporters that hates the other two. The Liberals' advantage is that being in the middle, they can attract the swing voters from either side if they get their own house in order. I just wonder if golden boy can do it. But I do think the NDP have plateaued if they can't destroy the Liberals, because I doubt many will swing from Conservative to Dipper. So May's blathering is counter productive if the NDP actually wants to become government some day.

I don't get the Liberal's in the middle thing, at the height of their power they sat firmly in the middle, but under Ignatief and Dion their policies swung to the left and they began to fight the NDP for control of the left vote.

Even in the debate most of the candidates that I saw (admittedly I didn't watch the whole debate because it was just so damn uninteresting) they came across fairly leftist and with a policy of national division of playing the evil interests of Alberta against the rest of the feather light kindness of the rest of the country.

The current Liberal party is the furthest thing from the old Libs, and have been subverted by the Red Liberal's in the backroom leadership cabal.

[OffsideSpecialist]

I think it would have been wise for the Green Party to stay by Harris' idea of being socially liberal and fiscally conservative. That area really isn't the best represented on the political spectrum and they could have gotten some votes that way, with their environmental ideas simply being another reason that people may vote for them. With the way it is now, they are basically the NDP running under a different banner.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I don't get the Liberal's in the middle thing, at the height of their power they sat firmly in the middle, but under Ignatief and Dion their policies swung to the left and they began to fight the NDP for control of the left vote.

Even in the debate most of the candidates that I saw (admittedly I didn't watch the whole debate because it was just so damn uninteresting) they came across fairly leftist and with a policy of national division of playing the evil interests of Alberta against the rest of the feather light kindness of the rest of the country.

The current Liberal party is the furthest thing from the old Libs, and have been subverted by the Red Liberal's in the backroom leadership cabal.

Can you give me an example or two of leftist policies put forward by the Liberals? I actually think that perhaps more shocking in Canada is that all of the parties have begun sliding to the left over the past say 8 years.

If you take out the social right in the CPC (which we all know is the vast, vast majority ), then really what you're left with is a fairly left of center group on the whole. None of the parties at this point show economic policies that have been remotely right of center. This isn't an attack on the CPC either; I just think that the proof is in the pudding and the CPC has acted not as fiscal conservatives, but more left leaning in that regard than even I would've anticipated. The NDP and Liberals aren't right wing. I'm totally making this up, but I think that is why a lot of us "blue Liberals" feel somewhat disenfranchised at this point; we're not comfortable with some aspects of the CPC, and at the same time the Liberals and NDP are both too far left to keep us comfortable. We're in no mans land, politically speaking.

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by Slava

Can you give me an example or two of leftist policies put forward by the Liberals? I actually think that perhaps more shocking in Canada is that all of the parties have begun sliding to the left over the past say 8 years.

If you take out the social right in the CPC (which we all know is the vast, vast majority ), then really what you're left with is a fairly left of center group on the whole. None of the parties at this point show economic policies that have been remotely right of center. This isn't an attack on the CPC either; I just think that the proof is in the pudding and the CPC has acted not as fiscal conservatives, but more left leaning in that regard than even I would've anticipated. The NDP and Liberals aren't right wing. I'm totally making this up, but I think that is why a lot of us "blue Liberals" feel somewhat disenfranchised at this point; we're not comfortable with some aspects of the CPC, and at the same time the Liberals and NDP are both too far left to keep us comfortable. We're in no mans land, politically speaking.

I can only speak from my personal experience, but I seem to recall a time when when local federal Liberal candidates were former members of the business community and from backgrounds that gave them an appreciation in some sense of how the economy works with a thought towards balancing those needs with solutions for addressing social problems with a clear secular position vis-a-vis social issues.

Now a days it seems to be that the common template for Liberal candidate in Calgary is former teacher/academic who approaches economic issues from the perspective of taking milk from a cow under the assumption that the cow will always provide regardless of how much is milked. In a lot of ways it seems that the local NDP and Liberal candidates are cut from the same cloth in terms of ideology with the difference coming in age and formal education the Liberals representing the academic wing and the dippers the younger activist wing.

[CaptainCrunch]

Dion's whole tax platform including the Green Shift was loonier then anything the NDP proposed. His and Ignatieff's universal Day Care program was very much born in the mind of the Quebec Lib left.

Ignatieff did little to separate himself from Dion's platform.

The Liberal's were not sitting in the center platform wise in the last campaign.

Also the Greenshift which targeted Energy companies but excluded the Ontario manufacturing base was diversion politics at its best.

You also have to look at the level's that the Liberals were going to raise corporate taxation to to pay for their social programs.

The Libs really haven't been a centrist party since Paul Martin's day.

Now they're moving towards being the party of empty headed platitudes.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I don't get the Liberal's in the middle thing, at the height of their power they sat firmly in the middle, but under Ignatief and Dion their policies swung to the left and they began to fight the NDP for control of the left vote.

Granted, Dion and Ignatief were part of that leftist swing, but that also seems somewhat natural given how much support on the right bled to the Tories. Instead of trying to re-capture the centre, Dion and Ignatief were stupid and arrogant enough to try and take down the NDP by becoming the NDP. Why settle for a cheap imitation of insanity when you can have the real thing?

Not withstanding some poorly concieved lefty policies, such as the green shaft and universal day care, the Liberals still remained far closer to the centre than Jack Layton and his "tax the crap out of oil and gas while also instituting price controls on same" idiocies that would have crippled Canada.

The Liberals have a chance in the next election if they move back toward the centre. If they continue to try and battle the NDP on their turf, then any real discontent over Harper's policies won't turn into much at the ballot box, simply because most people outside of welfare-dependant areas don't view the NDP as a legitimate governing alternative and won't risk having it happen. But if Golden Boy and his handlers can build a real centrist platform, they could cause a dramatic reversal in that election. One wonders if they are smart enough.

[CaptainCrunch]

That's what I've been saying. The Liberal's went head to head with the NDP on policy and shifted their platform to the Left, in the last two elections you can't call them a centrist party.

Meanwhile the Conservatives shifted their policies towards the central and occupied the spot that the Libs used to occupy

[Cube Inmate]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

Sidebar a bit, but this article in the Washington Post today talking about "green" movements lacking diversity and being largely confined to whites might speak to a Green political party's lack of forward progress.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/nation...7ad_story.html

Cowperson

I guess they're trying ... although choosing someone who's been punched in the head one too many times might not be the smartest thing:

http://www.greenparty.ca/party/georges-laraque

[FlamesAddiction]

In case anyone is interested, here is the letter I received. They don't really get to the point until the 2nd last paragraph:

Dear __________,


By now you may have heard the news that the Green Party of Canada will not be fielding a candidate for the upcoming Labrador by-election. The story has been swirling around social media all weekend and we wanted to give you - our loyal supporter - a more concrete explanation of the reasons why the Federal Council of the Green Party of Canada has made this call.


As a grassroots party, the governance of the Green Party of Canada is directed by the will of our members from across this great country. During our last convention, our membership expressed overwhelming support for resolutions calling on the party to ensure electoral cooperation is part of our strategy to ensure Green values are upheld in the face of a Harper majority.


The Green Party is committed to open and cooperative politics for the good of all Canadians.


Federal Council has been told firmly by our members to find ways to cooperate with representatives of other federal political parties at the national and riding levels when it is in the broader interest of our party and of our friends and neighbours across Canada. We see that cooperation can lead to new solutions for a fairer and more proportional model for parliamentary representation.


The decision in Labrador support efforts I made on behalf of the party, when I wrote to every progressive MP in the House of Commons in December suggesting Parliamentarians start a conversation about cooperation. Regrettably, the leadership of the NDP and the Liberals have not yet expressed a willingness to discuss the matter.


In the case of the impending Labrador by-election, Federal Council came to the conclusion that standing down made sense. The electoral situation in Labrador is very unsettling, with the call for the by-election potentially rushed given that former MP Peter Penashue may still be found guilty in the Elections Canada investigation of his 2011 campaign. Yet it appears the Prime Minister will aggressively support his re-election.


Being that the Conservatives won by only 79 votes over the Liberals, and the disturbing allegations about election offences, we believe it is in our nation’s best interest to avoid Mr. Penashue’s re-election and lend our support to the Liberals. Had the NDP come in second, we would be throwing our support behind them instead.


The Green Party will continue to press for collaboration in the lead up to the next general election. However, as in the Calgary Centre and Victoria by-elections, we will present Canadians with a strong team of Green Party candidates in 2015, with the the goal of a Parliamentary caucus in mind.


Greens do politics differently.


Sincerely,




<IMG alt="emay signature" width=250 height=53>
Elizabeth May
Leader, Green Party of Canada
MP Saanich Gulf Islands

[Maccalus]

That letter screams "Our constituency association has no money, volunteers or good candidates to run with, so we came up with an excuse to cover it" vibe to me.

[GP_Matt]

Originally Posted by Maccalus

That letter screams "Our constituency association has no money, volunteers or good candidates to run with, so we came up with an excuse to cover it" vibe to me.

Also, by doing it in a riding that the Liberals will most likely win it will allow May to claim that she helped and I am sure she will try to take credit for the win.