Comments on: If the meek don't inherit the earth, they'll at least get a say in a fringe party's platform!

If the meek don't inherit the earth, they'll at least get a say in a fringe party's platform!

DrJohnEvans — Fri, 23 Apr 2004 18:34:00 -0800

is their party platform... in Wiki form! It seems that only party members are able to participate in the Wiki, but the rest of us are still able to rank a plank and vote for their platform's priorities in the next election. Once the election date is set, party administrators will form the input into some sort of rough fixed platform, but until then, it's "what real democracy looks like".

By: Space Coyote

Space Coyote — Sat, 24 Apr 2004 02:47:52 -0800

I wonder how highly a plank that says "join the NDP and become a force within a party that can actually win some seats" would be ranked.

By: arto

arto — Sat, 24 Apr 2004 03:34:59 -0800

See, ideas and platforms are so last election. I mean, the Liberals and Conservatives don't seem to have 'em, and they seem to be doing all right.

By: alex_reno

alex_reno — Sat, 24 Apr 2004 06:35:52 -0800

Conservatives? We still have Conservatives? I thought they got the hint when we sent them back with 2 seats lo so many years ago.

By: stevengarrity

stevengarrity — Sat, 24 Apr 2004 07:23:39 -0800

Their policy on Open Source Software and software patents cought my attention (and probably my vote).

By: Krrrlson

Krrrlson — Sat, 24 Apr 2004 08:53:03 -0800

Conservatives? We still have Conservatives? I thought they got the hint when we sent them back with 2 seats lo so many years ago. And we got something so much, much better... sigh.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Sat, 24 Apr 2004 08:58:52 -0800

This is cool...are the Greens a force at all tho in Canadian politics?

By: DrJohnEvans

DrJohnEvans — Sat, 24 Apr 2004 09:27:29 -0800

Well... no. As the Globe piece points out, they are aiming to get enough of the vote to qualify for campaign funding. But that almost certainly won't translate into any seats.

By: Space Coyote

Space Coyote — Sat, 24 Apr 2004 10:09:42 -0800

Hence, the need for proportional representation in Canada, something taht everybone but the Liberals and the Bloc Quebecois should be getting behind pretty seriously.

By: srboisvert

srboisvert — Sat, 24 Apr 2004 11:24:53 -0800

are the Greens a force at all tho in Canadian politics? Our political parties are like sports teams. Politicians change sides like NBA free agents either pursuing victory or money. Jean Charest, conservative became Jean Charest, liberal premier of Quebec. Bloc members are now Liberals. Reform Party members merged with the Conservative Party remnants. The Liberal Party has become gradually became the Conservative Party but kepts the name Liberal during the 10 year slow motion Paul Martin coup d'etat. The only real role for the green party in cdn politics is to increase issue awareness and affect the platforms of other parties. I know I wouldn't have the slightest clue which party to vote for if it were not for the fact that Ed Broadbent, perhaps the most honest and decent man in Cdn politics, is running in Ottawa Central.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Sat, 24 Apr 2004 11:33:38 -0800

I wish we had proportional representation too. Have the other parties coopted part of the Greens' message? I always get the feeling that you guys are better with environmental issues than us (tho that's not hard at all, unfortunately).

By: Hildegarde

Hildegarde — Sat, 24 Apr 2004 12:35:09 -0800

That's only because we have so much more environment than you do, really.

By: Space Coyote

Space Coyote — Sat, 24 Apr 2004 12:40:02 -0800

Just remember that the Green Party isn't just another name for the Marijuana Party.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Sat, 24 Apr 2004 12:41:30 -0800

: >

By: The God Complex

The God Complex — Sat, 24 Apr 2004 14:47:50 -0800

Have the other parties coopted part of the Greens' message? I always get the feeling that you guys are better with environmental issues than us (tho that's not hard at all, unfortunately). Not the liberals in BC. They're selling off all the crown land (read: land the citizens ostensibly own) to private companies to turn a profit. Our politics here are as bad as yours are in the states. We have the Liberals, who, as mentioned, have been sliding right ever since Paul Martin got a strong foothold in the party*; and we have the conervatives or the new alliance or whatever they call themselves now: they're essentially our version of the republican party, as they spend most of their time complaining about gay marriage, the proposal to decriminalize marijuana, and criticizing Chretien for opposing the war in Iraq because it strained our relationship with the U.S. Government (apparently that should be our greatest fear). Then we have our left-of-center party, the NDP, who generally shoot themselves in the foot at every possible opportunity. Their leader, Jack Leyton, actually holds many policy views I subscribe to, which is cool, but even some members of his own party think he's too radical for them. He's the guy that made some noise suggesting we threaten to stop shipping power down the west coast to California if America kept up its stance in the softwood lumber standoff, but he doesn't have nearly the power base to actually effect much change at the current time. The NDP wins a fairly significant number of provincial elections but on a national platform they're almost non-existent currently. So ends my rough and dirty pinkolefty assessment of Canadian politics. *when he was finance minister they made Employment Insurance harder and harder to receive and cut the benefits in half. Then, with the excess 40 billion dollars they balanced the budget and "paid off 47 billion," 40 billion of which should of course never have been taken. Basically they created a new tax without having to tell anyone they were doing it. He also runs an international shipping business that has had a ton of bad publicity, such as when he kicked all the workers off to employ cheap international labour, and when he handed off control to his sons (so there wouldn't be a conflict of interest: hah!) and then gave them millions in contracts which were recorded in the books as about $150,000 due to a "clerical error."

By: amberglow

amberglow — Sat, 24 Apr 2004 15:08:01 -0800

Boy, TGC, you're making it hard for us to look up to you guys.

By: shepd

shepd — Sat, 24 Apr 2004 15:30:05 -0800

The green party were slightly more popular than the Natural Law party, although they share a lot of common ideals.

By: The God Complex

The God Complex — Sat, 24 Apr 2004 16:36:07 -0800

We still have healthy care ;)

By: The God Complex

The God Complex — Sat, 24 Apr 2004 16:36:51 -0800

I don't know why I said "healthy" there. It must be the cognac.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Sat, 24 Apr 2004 16:55:11 -0800

hopefully we will too, someday

By: Octaviuz

Octaviuz — Sun, 25 Apr 2004 02:28:50 -0800

I wish we had proportional representation Cool, now I don't have to do a frontpage post. I haven't done one yet and I was terrified. Canada is actually way ahead of the US where this is concerned. The Law Commission just released a report that recommended a Mixed Member Proportional system much like that one that New Zealand recently adopted. Along with the steps being taken at the federal level, the provinces are at various stages in the process. The government in Quebec has proposed a similar MMP system for the province, a commission in PEI recommended the same system, BC has convened a Citizens Assembly, Ontario now has a Democratic Renewal Secretariat, and Saskatchewan and New Brunswick are considering changes as well. More Info My only question is when will the US get around to this.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Sun, 25 Apr 2004 10:54:09 -0800

You should make a FPP out of that, Octaviuz--it's important.

By: Octaviuz

Octaviuz — Mon, 26 Apr 2004 18:11:06 -0800

Oh alright, since there's no one here anymore. Please don't throw any rotten fruit if I screw it up.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Mon, 26 Apr 2004 18:27:15 -0800

: > (i won't)