Like It Or Not, The Green Party Is Now Legit.

Whether or not I'd vote Green, I'm hoping their presence in the debates forces the other parties to come up with more serious environmental platforms.

They're also my favourite party to watch during election coverage .. they're always like "WOOOOO! THERE'S A CHANCE WE MIGHT COME IN SECOND IN ONE RIDING OMG OMG!".

I'm not sure how I feel about MPs being able to switch parties while they're in office though, given the fact that so many people vote based on the party the candidate is a member of. Tricky.

I don't like that either. In fact, I'm not far from the riding where one guy (Emmerson) campaigned as a Liberal and notoriously switched his allegiance to the Conservatives days after he was elected.

This case is a little different though. He switched only days before the election was called -- about as honourable as he could be really without losing the ability to solidify the Greens as a legitimate party before the race began.

But yeah, I agree. The Liberals and Conservatives have been really loose with their "trades" in the past few years. Makes you wonder if there really is much of a difference between the two.

Elizabeth May's an interesting person -- I'm curious about the debates too.

Hey just wanted to say thanks very much for your piece about rental scams. I just had an email about a flat in London. I had my doubts, I'm glad you confirmed that.

Thanks for the email.My husband owns the Apartment, also want you to know that it was due to my husband's transfer that made us to leave the apartment and also want to give it out for rent and looking for a responsible person that can take good care of the apartment, we are not after the money for the rent but want it to be clean all the time .So for now,I am in Greensville NJ in the United States in our new home and also I am with the keys and documents of the apartment,we tried to look for an agent that we can give this documents before we left but could not see and we don't want the apartment to be used any how in our absence that is why we took the keys and documents along with us here and as you know that,my husband over in the West Africa for a mission of God,so i hope you will promise us to take very good care of the apartment.So get back to me on how you could take care of our apartment or perhaps experience you have in renting a home.Hope you are okay with the price per month with hydro,heat laundry facilities,air condition, internet connection and so on.View pictures in the attached files.I am looking forward to hearing from you ASAP so that i can forward you an application to fill out and discuss on how to get the apartment for rent.

Hope to read from you soon
Mary

The offer really was too good to be true!

Elizabeth May is kind of a jerk.

Oh come on, what makes you say that? Call her vicious if you like I won't deny that, but "kind of a jerk"? What's that supposed to mean?

I did a bit of research on this the other day.

Apparently this Blair Wilson guy was actually kicked out of the Liberal party for trying to cover up legal and financial troubles during nomination vetting processes (ie. illegally ommission), and was not allowed back in. He then sat as an independent for a year before joining the Green Party. Which is a little different than just jumping ship straight out .. but probably not much more comforting. :P

Elizabeth May is also not running for Prime Minister in the upcoming election because she has an agreement with Dion. Isn't the electoral debate supposed to be for candidates actually running for Prime Minister (whether or not they have a shot notwithstanding)? How would this grant them a spot in the debate? While I would like to see them up on the podium, I'm not sure this actually will guarantee them anything. I'm also not convinced that May would attempt to rip Dion to shreds given their current deal. It all seems a bit sketchy to me.

Er, I meant to say "illegal omisson". I R SMRT.

I think that either you know something I don't, or you've missed something on the May-Dion deal. Basically, they agreed to not run candidates in the ridings of each other's leader, ie. the Greens won't run against the Liberals in Dion's riding, and the Liberals won't run against the Greens in May's riding. Last I heard, she was still running for a seat in Central Nova, and if she takes it, she'll be the leader of the Green party with a seat in the House. If then, on the slim chance that the Greens hold the largest stake in the House, she'll be Prime Minister. It's not a position for which you run, but a question of numbers.

As for how this would have an effect on whether they should be allowed to appear in the televised debates, the logic goes like this:

• For every election since the inception of the Green party, they've been denied access to the debates:
• First because they weren't running candidates across the country
  • The Bloc Quebecquois have never run seats outside of Quebec
  • They rectified this in the following election
• Then because they didn't have enough of the popular vote
  • In the following election, they got 4.5%, 2.5 points more than required
• Then because they didn't have any sitting MPs
  • Now they have Wilson

May has already gone on record saying that the party will sue if they don't get access to the debates this round. I wouldn't be surprised if she followed through with that.

Can you remind me when the debates are on? I am hoping that i can watch them online or download a podcast or something...

Sure. I'll try to email you or at the very least, post it here.

Daniel, Thanks for clarifying how the parliamentary democracy works in Canada-Yikes...On the most improbable chance of ever winning enough seats to form a 'Government" Liz would be one Mean ass leader. I was disappointed to hear that they ( with the exception of the Liberals)Parties would not include her in the debates....even NDP Leader Jack L. dosent endorse that move because the "Vert" will rob them of some "rich" votes and free air-play on National TV....quite the sham........pity

is "kind of a jerk" too ambiguous?

from what I hear from people who have met her at political luncheons and meetings, she is loud and pushy and talks over people. She has a reputation for interrupting and not listening to opposing opinions. To me that makes her kind of a jerk.

again, this is just what I hear from people who deal with her on a semi-regular basis. I've never met her personally, which is why I soften my critique with the "kind of".

Ah, I see what you mean. Having never met her personally and only seen her in debate, I suppose I can see that. I guess that what some of the people to whom you've spoken see as "jerk-ness" I see as confidence and self-righteousness. Some of my favourite qualities in politicians whose principles I admire.