Pie Palace

This is a canned post, written on 2006/08/24.

So, by now, the Green Party should have announced who its new leader is. Since I’m writing this two days before the ballot count, I have absolutely no idea who has won [Editor's note: Elizabeth May won]. But that won’t stop me from offering an opinion.

Any regular readers of this blog will know that I’m rooting for David. If he has won, I would say something like:

I’m very, very happy that the Green Party membership has chosen David Chernushenko to be our new leader. He has done great work for the party in the past, and has done a lot to attract new members to the party. Much of our support in Ottawa-Centre is due to his work as candidate. This win shows that the Green Party is about more than “just” the environment, and our membership wants to broaden our base of support. With David at the head, I think we’re getting closer to winning seats.

Elizabeth May and Jim Fannon have both done a great job as candidates. I hope they continue their commitment to the party, and that Elizabeth is offered (and accepts) a Deputy Leadership position. I believe she holds great promise

Of course, I can’t predict the future, so who knows, maybe Elizabeth will win. If she does, I would say something like:

Congratulations to Elizabeth on her victory. She has shown a strong commitment to the environmental movement in the past, and has been involved in various social justice agencies. I am sure that she will be able to translate her success in those venues into a broader success, attracting the support of Canadians who don’t think of themselves as environmentalists. I hope that her network of supporters in the Sierra Club decide to get involved in the Green Party, and are able to open their vision to sustainability in all aspects of society.

David ran an excellent campaign. He was an underdog as soon as Elizabeth decided that she would enter; but his vision has value. I don’t think that a vote for Elizabeth equalled a vote against a Green Party with broader policies, that is able to attract a majority of Canadians to our fold. I hope that David stays in the public eye, and is offered a Deputy Leadership position

I do think that Elizabeth can make a good leader. I think that she sees that we need to move beyond “I’m right, and we have to do what’s right” justifications for our policy into a more open, yet still principled mindset.

I haven’t given Jim Fannon a lot of attention during this race, because I’m biased against his unilingualism. But I only have one vote, so it’s quite possible that he could have won. In which case, my response will be:

Congratulations to Jim Fannon on his victory. He speaks very well, and is entertaining in his delivery. With the appropriate language training, I’m sure he will be able to show that the Green Party has strong ideas.

Regardless of who our new leader is, I think the Green Party will come out ahead. Jim Harris, the Party leader between 2000 and 2006, did a good job at building the party. Now that we have the support that we need, it’s time for a new. One who can attract new votes; show that we’re a party with a broad vision; and let Canadians know that sustainability doesn’t have to hurt.