Green Party of Canada
| File:Gpclogo.gif | |
| Current Leader: | Jim Harris |
| Founded: | 1983 |
| Headquarters: | Box 997 Station B Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5R1 |
| Colours: | Green |
| Political ideology: | green, eco-capitalist |
The Green Party of Canada is a federal political party in Canada.
Current Status
In the 2004 federal election, it fielded candidates in all 308 of the nation's ridings and received 4.3% of the popular vote. In the 2000 election it fielded candidates in 131 (one third) of the then 301 ridings.
Although the Green Party has never elected a candidate at the federal or provincial level in Canada (due in part to the country's first past the post electoral system), it is nonetheless recognized by many as an "emerging force" in Canadian politics. On occasion, it has polled as high as 18% in British Columbia, 8% in Ontario and 7% federally. Such figures are roughly on par with those of sucessful Green Parties in other countries, including New Zealand and Germany.
In the 2004 Federal Election the CBC and CTV refused to invite the Green Party to televised political debates. This sparked legal actions by the party, and a petition by its supporters to have it included. Nevertheless, the party secured enough votes in the 2004 election to qualify for federal funding that is available to parties that receive over 2% of the vote. The party will receive $1.75 (Cdn.) per vote that it received for each year until the next general election.
Relation to provincial parties
The federal party was founded and originally promoted mostly by members of the largest provincial green party, the Green Party of British Columbia. There are now affiliated Green Parties registered in seven of the ten Canadian provinces.
The federal and provincial parties remain closely affiliated, while no joint memberships are issued, the affiliates elect representatives to the federal council, and many officials and candidates in the federal party have positions in the provincial affiliates. The Green Party of Canada has its headquarters in Ottawa, Canada.
The current leader of the Green Party of Canada (GPC), Jim Harris, was re-elected on the first ballot by 56% of the membership in a leadership challenge vote in August 2004.
History
About one month before the 1980 federal election in Canada, 11 candidates, mostly in Atlantic province districts, issued a joint press release declaring that they were running on a common platform which called for a transition to a non-nuclear, conserver society. Although they ran as independents, they unofficially used the name "Small Party" as part of their declaration of unity-a reference to the "small is beautiful" philosophy of E.F. Schumacher. This was the most substantial early attempt to answer the call for an ecologically-oriented Canadian political party.
Three years later, North America's first Green Party was born in British Columbia, and later that same year the Ontario Greens were formed. The BC Greens leaped right into elections, running Canada's first Green candidate. Later that year, the founding conference of the Canadian Greens was held in Ontario. Close to 200 people from 55 communities attended, coming from every province except Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island.
The birthing process was difficult, with deep divisions between those arguing for a national structure, and those in favour of a process that would build from the regions. Trevor Hancock, the party's first registered leader, was eager to get Green politics up and running in Canada. Party members, however, chose a radically decentralized party structure and for several years a kind of green anarchism prevailed. Eventually, an uneasy agreement was reached for a federation of regional parties, with strong support for building upwards from the bottom.
"Is the priority to redefine politics from the ground up, or to play the electoral game according to the present rules? Or both?"
The Green Party of Canada contested its first federal election in September 1984. A little over 1% of Canadians voted Green. Unfortunately, the ongoing discussions about the party's modus operandi became so exhausting that, at one point in the mid-80's, there was a near collapse of the party. It was kept alive—if not particularly active—for almost a decade under the stewardship of the BC Greens.
In the 1988 federal election, the Green spotlight was on Quebec, where le Parti Vert ran 29 candidates (up from just 4 in the previous election). Les Verts received higher results than Green candidates anywhere else in Canada, polling an average of 2.4% of the vote. The Quebec wing hosted the 1990 Canadian Greens conference in Montreal. But soon after that, Canada's constitutional problems interfered, and many Quebec candidates abandoned the Greens in favour of a separatist party, the Bloc Québécois. There were only six Green candidates from Quebec in the 1993 election.
In the summer of 1988, the BC Greens tried to get the Green Party of Canada onto its feet by hosting a conference -- the first federal gathering since the founding meeting in 1983. The main accomplishment of that conference was the acceptance, after five years as a registered party, of a constitution. The party continued to field candidates at the federal level, and provincial parties were organized in a few other provinces, led by consistently strong efforts in British Columbia.
In the spring of 1996, although the hopes of electing a representative to the BC legislature proved premature, one candidate in the interior of the province received over 11% of the vote. Overall, the party's proportion of the popular vote surged to a new high.
At the party's 6th annual gathering in Castlegar, BC, in August of 1996, major constitutional amendments were passed, and policy was agreed to in a wide variety of areas. An important step forward was the structuring of a Shadow Cabinet, whose mandate was to create a platform for the next election in 1997.
The Castlegar gathering marked the beginning of a new era in Canadian Green history, and a somewhat uneasy one at that. In spite of a concern about the nature of leadership in a decentralized party, the Greens' first leadership campaign had been underway for the previous six months. Four candidates contested the leadership. A mail-in ballot was held: Wendy Priesnitz (from Ontario) beat Don Francis (Quebec), Jason Crummey (Newfoundland and Labrador), and Harry Garfinkle (Alberta) to become the Registered Leader of the Green Party of Canada.
In January 1997, Wendy Priesnitz abruptly resigned. Harry Garfinkle stepped in to be the Interim Registered Leader of the Green Party of Canada, and a leadership convention by mail-in ballot was held.
British Columbia's Joan Russow became leader of the Green Party of Canada on April 13, 1997, and served until 2001 when she resigned. Russow won 52% of the ballots cast in the 1997 leadership race, surpassing Ontario's Jim Harris (39%) and Rachelle Small (8%).
In the 2000 Canadian election, the party nominated 111 candidates, in nine out of ten provinces -- all but Newfoundland and Labrador -- and in one of three territories (Nunavut). These candidates collected 0.81% of the total popular vote.
Candidates were not run in Newfoundland and Labrador because Joan Russow had refused to endorse Newfoundland candidates in a St. John's West by-election. This caused much uncertainty and friction between Newfoundland's Terra Nova Green Party Association and the Green Party's Registered Leader.
In the 2001 Quebec City protest against the Free Trade Area of the Americas, Russow was the very first person thrown in a jail built specially for protesters, for taking a photograph of it from outside.
As well as severe strains with Atlantic Greens over policy and candidate endorsements, Russow experienced a rift with the BC wing of the Green Party. Russow stepped down as party leader and left the party to join the New Democratic Party of Canada. Volunteer efforts were substantially absorbed in provincial campaigns between 2001 and 2003, and the federal party became dormant between elections, as was typical in the past. Chris Bradshaw served the party as interim leader from 2001 to February 2003.
With over 80% of votes cast in the 2003 leadership election, Jim Harris defeated John Grogan of Valemount, British Columbia, and Jason Crummey. Crummey was a charter member of both the Northwest Territories' Western Arctic Greens, and the Newfoundland and Labrador Terra Nova Greens, and a former Green Party of Canada National Vice President. Harris, a management consultant who describes himself as a green conservative, claimed the support of all provincial Green Party leaders. His election reflected a desire among the members to "become serious" in achieving electoral progress, and to steer away from being a decentralist party.
In November 2003, after several months of decisionmaking impasse on subject of election strategy, several party councillors sometimes described as fundi resigned. The party's new direction was then reinforced by interim councilllors appointed by realo majority. Under Jim Harris' leadership, the party initiated its most sucessful fundraising campaign to date, began organizing vigorously in all provinces and territories, and acquired a core office staff to prepare for the 2004 election.
While the organizing and election planning was centralized, policy development was decentralized. In February 2004, the Green Party of Canada initiated what became known as the "living platform" - an internet-based participatory platform development strategy that was open to the public. The direction of the 2004 platform, while retaining similar ecological themes, shifted in other aspects from a radical-left to a progressive-centrist stance. An emphasis on a green tax shift which favored reducing income and corporate taxes while increasing taxes on polluters and energy consumers created questions as to whether the Green Party was still in the left of the political spectrum.
In the 2004 election, the party recieved a significant increase in media coverage on the strength of its 308 candidates, the platform, and a national leaders tour. The party began to be included in almost all national political polls. Their popular support peaked at 7% during the campaign, and they finished with 4.3% of the popular vote.
In August of 2004 it held a national convention near Calgary, Alberta. Jim Harris was re-elected, along with most of the interim appointed council. Most of the conference debate centered around significant constitutional reform proposals, and the role of membership in ruling on matters of policy and the constitution. The conference ended with a re-affirmation of a hybrid that was developed during the campaign: a centralized executive and decentralized policy and constitutional development.
- For information about the 2004 election including a list of nominated candidates see: Canadian federal election, 2004
Policies
The GPC supports the ten key values originally authored by the United States Green Party.
The August 2002 Convention adopted the 6 principles of the Global Greens, as stated by the Global Greens Conference held in Canberra, Australia in 2001. These principles are included in the GPC constitution.
The policy platform for the 2004 federal election can be found on the internet on the platform website. The current party is eco-capitalist in orientation.
Election results
| Election | # of candidates nominated | # of seats won | # of total votes | % of popular vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | ||||
| 1988 | ||||
| 1993 | ||||
| 1997 | ||||
| 2000 | ||||
| 2004 |
Although the party did not succeed in winning any seats in the 2004 election, its result (4.31 per cent of ballots cast) was a significant breakthrough for the party, and the party now qualifies for federal funds as it surpassed two per cent.
Affiliations
The GPC is a member of the Federation of Green Parties of the Americas and recognized by the Global Greens as representing Canadian Greens federally.
Provincial Wings
- Alberta Greens
- Green Party of British Columbia
- Green Party of Manitoba
- Green Party of Ontario
- Terra Nova Green Party (Newfoundland and Labrador)
- New Green Alliance (Saskatchewan)
- Parti vert du Québec
See also: