The Green Party of Canada is choosing a new leader

October 3, 2020 11:44 AM

After a leadership campaign which nearly doubled the party's membership, not long after an election in which it broke the million-vote barrier, the Green Party of Canada is set to choose a new leader after fourteen years under Elizabeth May. CBC's coverage will start tonight at 5:45pm EDT, with results of the ranked-choice ballot expected starting at 7pm. The race boasts nine eight candidates with a diverse, if small, party base hotly debating which direction will best suit the party’s electoral prospects and the chance to reshape Canadian party politics.

There has been no polling, but fundraising and donor numbers point to Annamie Paul and Dimitri Lascaris as the front-runners:

Paul, a Black, Jewish woman who has worked as an advisor for the International Criminal Court and founded a series of non-profits, considers herself to be one of the race’s more centrist candidates who wants to move the party into Canada’s political mainstream.

In her platform, she advocates for making post-secondary education free, “dismantling systemic racism in policing” by redirecting some of police services’ funding to community services, and withdrawing from the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States.

Her main opponent, Lascaris, describes himself as an “eco-socialist” who thinks the party’s success in the next general election goes through a more marked shift to the left.

In a blog post last July, Lascaris explained that means that government should guarantee all of Canadians’ basic life necessities: “housing, education, health care, food security and access to the information they need to exercise fully their political rights, all of which must happen in a framework that preserves the health of our planet.”

Paul is set to run as a candidate in the Oct 26 byelection in Toronto Centre which was prompted by the resignation of Finance Minister Bill Morneau.

CBC Radio's "The House" has interviewed all eight candidates, though you have to dig a bit through the three episodes to find the interviews. There have also been fifteen debates featuring most of the candidates and covering a variety of issues.

Huffington Post Canada sent all the candidates 23 questions:

Dimitri Lascaris, lawyer and activist: "I want to tax billionaires out of existence."

Courtney Howard, emergency room physician: "Keep people safe and healthy now, while setting ourselves on a long term path that will allow our kids to live a good life into the future."

Meryam Haddad, immigration lawyer: "We need to advocate what the marginalized communities have been asking for like defunding the RCMP and decolonization."

Glenn Murray, former provincial cabinet minister: "[We] need to create a Big Green Tent approach like our successful provincial counterparts have done successfully in B.C., N.B. and P.E.I."

Amita Kuttner, astrophysicist: "We need to have a conversation in this country about the nature of work, and whether we should be measuring one’s worth based solely on their productivity at all."

Annamie Paul, human rights lawyer: "The party struggles with diversity. We ran the least diverse slate of candidates in the last election."

Andrew West, lawyer: "I would prioritize the environment, fiscal responsibility and electoral and Senate reform."

David Merner, retired lawyer: "I understand the sources of Green Party disunity in my bones, and know how to take on the very difficult job of healing the divisions and reversing the culture of negativity inside our party."

All the candidates support a guaranteed minimum income, and they hope that other parties will follow:

Among its members, it's a running joke: The Green Party of Canada comes up with the big ideas and the other parties rip them off.

Many of those policies — same-sex marriage, cannabis legalization, a carbon tax and a guaranteed basic income — have now come to define the national conversation and, in some cases, Canada's place in the world.

posted by clawsoon (35 comments total)

Whatever happened to Trudeau's promise of ranked choice voting that would actually make a Green Party of Canada viable?
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 12:03 PM on October 3, 2020 [1 favorite]

YCPR: [ bitter laughter turning into sobbing ]
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:05 PM on October 3, 2020 [9 favorites]

Your Childhood Pet Rock: Whatever happened to Trudeau's promise of ranked choice voting that would actually make a Green Party of Canada viable?

IIRC, Trudeau wanted ranked choice because it would help the Liberals the most (would've almost given them a majority in 2019) but the House of Commons Special Committee on Electoral Reform instead recommended mixed member proportional compensatory. That would have given the Greens 22 seats in 2019 and dropped the Liberals to second place behind the Conservatives. I seem to recall that the Liberals hastily dropped the idea of electoral reform after that recommendation.

In one of the articles, Elizabeth May said that the Canadian Greens have done better than any other Green party in a first-past-the-post system. I haven't confirmed that, but it sounds reasonable.
posted by clawsoon at 12:16 PM on October 3, 2020 [4 favorites]

also, the "consultation" that was done on the voting choice was a joke.
posted by scruss at 1:51 PM on October 3, 2020 [7 favorites]

I desperately want Meryam Haddad to win.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 2:36 PM on October 3, 2020

Live stream has started.
posted by clawsoon at 2:45 PM on October 3, 2020

I desperately want Meryam Haddad to win.

I like Haddad for her positions and her passion, but her English is weak and any benefit she might bring in Quebec as a Francophone is nullified by being a Syrian immigrant in one of the more racist parts of Canada. And, to be honest, her decision to pointedly not endorse the BC Greens in the provincial election, while principled, was politically dumb. We don't need a politically dumb leader in charge.

I spent a long time trying to decide between Annamie Paul and Dimitri Lascaris, which says a lot about the relative leftiness of the candidate slate overall, and eventually voted for Paul first and Lascaris second; I'll be happy with either (or Howard, or Kuttner, or even Merner). The virtual nature of the campaign meant I got to have conversations with several candidates, and while I admire Lascaris' commitment to his principles and think he'll be a valuable member of the party, his position about electoral strategy boiled down to "say the stuff you believe and people will respect it," which is true but also not really, I think, necessarily sufficient to get the party to official-party status (which is the reasonable goal the party should be pursuing at this point). Paul's answers to my questions about the national race and the way to win more seats were grounded and smart.
posted by mightygodking at 3:42 PM on October 3, 2020 [2 favorites]

Already more competent than the Conservative vote-counting.
posted by clawsoon at 4:55 PM on October 3, 2020

It was fascinating (and actually very exciting) to see a ranked-choice system in action!
posted by Grimp0teuthis at 5:06 PM on October 3, 2020

Toronto lawyer Annamie Paul elected leader of the federal Green Party
posted by clawsoon at 5:09 PM on October 3, 2020 [4 favorites]

Looks like I'm going to have the chance to choose between Annamie Paul and Brian Chang in a couple of weeks. I usually vote NDP, but I like what I'm seeing of her so far.
posted by clawsoon at 5:20 PM on October 3, 2020 [1 favorite]

I am a Canadian dual citizen, lived in the US through my 20's then moved back in my 30's when I first voted in a Canadian election. And I've never really understood what niche the Greens are really trying to serve in Canadian politics. In my riding in Ontario the cadidates always seemed to offer a pro-environmental policy option that was quite to the right of the NDP otherwise (but that didn't seem to be universal nation-wide). I've been back in the states for the last two Canadian elections though, and it seems the Greens are more consistently trying to the be the leftmost option?
posted by 3j0hn at 6:09 PM on October 3, 2020 [1 favorite]

Looks like I'm going to have the chance to choose between Annamie Paul and Brian Chang in a couple of weeks.

I'm not sure you will. I spoke with Annamie during one of her virtual events about this and she acknowledged that Toronto Centre is "the safest Liberal seat in Toronto, which means it's the safest Liberal seat in Ontario, which means it's the safest Liberal seat in Canada." She was strongly considering running in another riding - were I advising her, I'd be suggesting Guelph if there's an election next year (which seems likely).

I've never really understood what niche the Greens are really trying to serve in Canadian politics.

The Greens are kind of a catchall party for environmentalist-politics-first people, and the recent leadership race has definitely seen a more leftward tilt - the only candidate who was really pitching that the Greens should court disaffected Conservatives, Andrew West, came in dead last in the race, and no truly centrist candidate managed higher than a mediocre fourth place. The unstated goal right now is to try to take advantage of the NDP's internal chaos and make it to official party status.
posted by mightygodking at 6:24 PM on October 3, 2020 [5 favorites]

She has confirmed that she's running in Toronto Centre. She could run in the byelection now and a different riding later if she loses, couldn't she?
posted by clawsoon at 6:36 PM on October 3, 2020

Yes, very much so. It's frankly pretty common. Elizabeth May started out her leadership that way - she ran in a by-election, lost, and then ran in a different riding at the next general election.
posted by ZaphodB at 8:37 PM on October 3, 2020 [2 favorites]

The Greens are kind of a catchall party for environmentalist-politics-first people

So, it's pretty much what I thought. I guess the lack of American-style primaries make trying to push more green-minded people into the big-3 parties a more daunting idea for regular voters.
posted by 3j0hn at 8:40 PM on October 3, 2020

I guess the lack of American-style primaries make trying to push more green-minded people into the big-3 parties a more daunting idea for regular voters.

It used to be thought that a two-party system was normal, even inevitable in a first-past-the-post system - Duverger's law and all that - but looking around the world it seems like it mostly only applies to the USA. Almost everybody else has more than two major parties. So perhaps it's the American anomaly which needs explanation rather than the Canadian. :-)

...which is all to say that I've thought about the question, too, and have no real idea what the answer is.
posted by clawsoon at 9:05 PM on October 3, 2020 [4 favorites]

Goddammit Glenn go away already
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:40 PM on October 3, 2020 [1 favorite]

Goddammit Glenn go away already

Right? He's 63 and has been a mayor, MPP in Ontario, cabinet minister, Fellow of a college, and served with several Councils and Institutes. Yet he keeps aiming for these high-office political roles and missing. Dude, you've got pensions galore; kick back.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 11:16 PM on October 3, 2020 [2 favorites]

> He's 63 and ... Dude, you've got pensions galore; kick back.

This is rather ageist. Some people like to work and won't ever retire (what the fuck is that even), and some people only really find the things they want to do in their later years. That said, mediocre old white dudes are pretty much the curse of Canadian politics, so I'm am with you on several counts, but I'm also a little grar about your framing.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:42 AM on October 4, 2020 [4 favorites]

I rejoined the Green Party to vote in this race. The new leader, Annamie Paul, was my third choice, and that's in no way a criticism. I'm content with the result. The field was strong — many observers felt it put the Conservative Party field to shame — and (with exceptions) collegial. Several contenders will likely be prominent in the redefinition of the party. (Or, if they aren't, the new leader will have quickly failed.)

A ranked ballot campaign felt really good as a voting member. Candidates treated each other (mostly) with more depth, integrity and mutual respect than in other such contests. I felt drawn to understand each candidate well to know what to do with my ranked vote.

I spent the early evening of the US Presidential “debate” in a national Zoom call with two of the Canadian Green candidates. It was one of the most open-hearted, thoughtful, idea-filled, humble and hopeful political experiences I've had in years. At their best the Greens are multi-perspectival and collaborative in a way that might be part of the path to less-dirty, less-posturing, less ego-driven post-partisan politics.

It's not easy to be post-partisan within the sometimes vicious, vacuous winner-take-all "blood sport" of a first-past-the-post partisan system. Annamie Paul might be the right leader, because she knows that and is likely more hardened for the rough and tumble than the candidates I ranked higher.

Many Canadians will miss past leader Elizabeth May. She is and was not perfect. She made a few pretty dumb and unfortunate mistakes. So would I in that many years on the public stage. She didn't give a particularly good farewell speech. But she gave some brilliant ones in the House. There was a 3-year period in which in which her colleagues, virtually all from other parties, voted her Parliamentarian of the Year (2012), Hardest Working MP (2013), and Best Orator (2014). She set a high bar in Canadian public life.
posted by namasaya at 5:50 PM on October 4, 2020 [2 favorites]

It used to be thought that a two-party system was normal, even inevitable in a first-past-the-post system - Duverger's law and all that - but looking around the world it seems like it mostly only applies to the USA. Almost everybody else has more than two major parties. So perhaps it's the American anomaly which needs explanation rather than the Canadian.

(TBF in the last ~century Canada, the UK, and Austrialia have only had two parties trading the PM's office back and forth. Though, it seems minorities and coalitions have been more common of late. So, I'm not totally convinced that two parties is not the stable-point in FPtP)

The US has a very loose idea of party membership (you "join" a party by checking a box when you register) and you get a say in who runs for office for your party vs. Canada, say, where you have to actively reach out to a party and pay an annual membership fee to get any say over candidates (and most people do not join a party). Because of this, I think that Americans more often feel they can pursue their policy preferences within their party rather than needing to join smaller parties.

If you had to pay a fee to vote in party primaries, the US might too have 3+ parties holding significant numbers of house seats at any given time.
posted by 3j0hn at 9:19 PM on October 4, 2020 [3 favorites]

    you "join" a party by checking a box when you register

Psychologically, though, I think that "joining" a party might actually go some way toward explaining the level of polarization in the US system. Even if being a member of a party is as simple as a checkbox, it means that you are a part of a "group". And ingroup/outgroup dynamics are a key part of how humans think.

So ya... I'd agree, I think the key to having more parties in the US would be to make the existing parties harder to join. Of course, why would the existing parties themselves would want this, I don't know...
posted by Arandia at 11:06 AM on October 5, 2020 [2 favorites]

I'm also a little grar about your framing.

Fair enough, the framing was flip, but not intended as ageist. The pension remark was to highlight that Murray doesn't need these jobs, more like a throwaway comedic thing. The point I was going for is that some people, e.g. Murray, have climbed as far as they're going to go and the results of his recent efforts show it. He's done good past work, but it's clear that enough people don't see him in the top leadership roles, so why not continue your current roles / accept the results and move on?

Back to the main topic, Paul gave a heck of a good inaugural speech and (I thought) managed to do the Big Tent work that leaders need to do. A very good start.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 11:13 AM on October 5, 2020

TBF in the last ~century Canada, the UK, and Austrialia have only had two parties trading the PM's office back and forth.

That's only sort of true in Canada's case. The PC party completely imploded due to the efforts of the Reform Party and while Harper eventually became PM of Canada as the head of CPC it's only by a peace treat between Reform and PC parties via CRAPP. The CPC party isn't the same as the PC party by either name or philosophy.

One could say we've had the leading centre-left and right parties swapping the PM office but that leaves a lot of nuance on the table.
posted by Mitheral at 1:04 PM on October 5, 2020 [2 favorites]

That's only sort of true in Canada's case. The PC party completely imploded due to the efforts of the Reform Party and while Harper eventually became PM of Canada as the head of CPC it's only by a peace treat between Reform and PC parties via CRAPP. The CPC party isn't the same as the PC party by either name or philosophy.

The implosion was only a dramatic portion of the party re-orienting itself into a hard-right stance. The provincial conservative parties that still brand themselves as "PC" are as conservative now as the federal Conservatives are. The change was always sort of inevitable once the Prairie hunger for far-right politics was appeased.
posted by mightygodking at 1:48 PM on October 5, 2020 [2 favorites]

The provincial conservative parties that still brand themselves as "PC" are as conservative now as the federal Conservatives are. The change was always sort of inevitable once the Prairie hunger for far-right politics was appeased.

Although... looking more closely at the Prairie parties, in Alberta the PCs split off the Wildrose Party and then re-merged as the United Conservative Party. In Saskatchewan, the PCs mostly went over to the Saskatchewan Party.
posted by clawsoon at 2:03 PM on October 5, 2020

I turned into the press conference a bit late and rather than catching the new leader speaking, it was Elizabeth May going on about how happy she was to get the resignation of a staffer. Somehow I missed this situation. How do these guys keep getting hired? (Rhetorical question.)
posted by sardonyx at 2:11 PM on October 5, 2020 [1 favorite]

I have now gotten robocalls from Annamie Paul and Marci Ien, her Liberal opponent in the race for Toronto Centre.

Paul leaned heavily on the Liberal's history of parachuting candidates into Toronto Centre. I'm not sure how much sense that makes for her politically. It's not like Marci Ien was flown in from Winnipeg or something, and what if Paul's only chance for a seat in the House of Commons turns out to be having herself parachuted into one of the coastal ridings where Greens have a chance?

The single election sign I've seen around my part of the riding has been an Annamie Paul sign, so she does have that going for her.
posted by clawsoon at 5:39 AM on October 16, 2020

If Paul doesn't win, she'll try again somewhere else. Brian Chang is pretty high profile locally but has no presence outside the riding.

I'm like, either one would be fine if we can just NOT have the Liberal candidate win while also NOT having the pig-fuckers win.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:30 AM on October 17, 2020 [1 favorite]

We just got our voting cards in the mail, since we're in this riding. There are actually some Green Party folks out on the corner outside out place with signs today, and they've been getting a fair number of honks from passing cars.

I've been a bit "meh" on the Green Party in the past for a variety of reasons, but I like what I've heard and read from Annamie Paul.

I'm like, either one would be fine if we can just NOT have the Liberal candidate win while also NOT having the pig-fuckers win.

This should be a PSA that runs during all elections.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:57 AM on October 17, 2020 [1 favorite]

I've been kinda "meh" on the Green Party myself, but I've gotten used to having Elizabeth May as a "voice of conscience" in Parliament. It feels like we'd be missing something if we lose that role in our political arena.
posted by clawsoon at 12:30 PM on October 17, 2020 [2 favorites]

Voted in the Toronto Centre by-election this morning. We went when the polls opened. DRO and poll clerks were all wearing face shields and masks, and the were only allowing one person at a time in the room (it was in a small multipurpose room in our building). Altogether a stress-free voting experience all things considered. We were in and out in less than 15 minutes (including time for me to swear a statutory declaration to vote on Mr. Conspiracy's behalf since he's blind and Elections Canada blows on accessibility -- provincial and municipal voting in Ontario/Toronto features accessible voting machines).
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:22 AM on October 26, 2020 [2 favorites]

Preliminary byelection results as they come in, if you're a junkie.
posted by clawsoon at 6:28 PM on October 26, 2020

Toronto Centre's election results prove the Liberals will never give us ranked ballots. [ seething ]
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:32 AM on October 27, 2020 [2 favorites]