Green Party leader Elizabeth May (left) writes a letter to her members about her deal with Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion:
“Please be prepared for this historic step to be misunderstood and deliberately mis-characterized. Adriane Carr, Deputy Leader, is running in Vancouver Centre. We have made it a priority that she win, defeating Liberal incumbent Hedy Fry (by the way, Mr. Dion never asked me to withdraw or alter any other ridings than those of the leaders.) Across Canada, Greens will be running against Liberals. We have significant (huge, when one considers NAFTA and other policy areas) disagreements.
Campaigns of Greens across Canada must be stronger and we must elect a solid caucus, not one or two MPs in the next election. Thus, it is clear we are not “endorsing” Liberals. The Green Party is emphatically against strategic voting. But in the archaic first past the post system, how else is the Green Party to work to ensure the democratic will of the majority is heard? How else can we signal cooperation , not competitiveness, is our core value?
Your support through letters to the editor, etc would be appreciated. Thanks for your support, for your patience, and if you have misgivings, for your openness to the potential for real change. We live in interesting times and they just got a lot more interesting.
So, the confusion begins. Pass the popcorn.
Mr. Dion has done more to hurt his leadership with this ill conceived alliance with Eliz. May. What's in it for him. Canadians already believe he is an environmental zealot who has almost become fanatical in his desire to impose facist environmental policies on corporate Canada and all of its citizens. So what's the upside? May wins in Central Nova and he has one more strident voice yakking about the environment. She loses nothing changes. Mr. Dion doesn't feel he is going to win the next election so he is grandstanding therefore threatening his already weak leadership. The knives are already out and he is going to die with a thousand cuts. This is good for Stephen Harper and the Conservatives. Everyday Dion speaks shows he really has no leadership skills.
May says: “The Green Party is emphatically against strategic voting.”
May means: “The Green Party might be against strategic voting, but i'm not. After all, you might remember me from such vote-fixing schemes as the 'Think Twice Coalition' with my pal Buzz Hargrove circa 2006.”
David Chernushenko appears uncannily prescient here.
When you look at May's concerns, it seems clear to me that Dion was the big winner. He doesn't need to remind his party that we are trying to win!