Green leadership

[Mendalla]

Yeah, I know this probably does not matter as much as the Conservative leadership, but I am watching it as much as one can given that the media are basically ignoring it. Elizabeth May is calling it a day so the Greens, like the Cons, are choosing a new leader. Voting starts September 26 and the big day is October 4. This could create difficulties if the Throne Speech on Sept. 23 results in an election. May is still the house leader for now and may retain that until the new leader wins a seat, I suppose.

The contrast with the Conservative race is telling. 9 candidates and very diverse. 4 women, 1 non-binary, 4 men. Beside the enby candidate, there is a lesbian and a gay man so plenty of LGBTQ representation. Several PoC, mostly women. Two scientists and a physician besides the usual lawyers. They even have one with major political experience in Glen Murray, who sat for the provincial Liberals in Ontario and served in cabinets under Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne.

Here's the full slate from Wiki:

2020 Green Party of Canada leadership election - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Mendalla]

So I need to spend some time boning up on this bunch and don't really have a favorite yet. I wish it mattered, though. And I wish there was a hope in hell of one of the majors having a field this diverse. Not sure if even the NDP leadership race a few years back managed that, though the fact that they are now led by a Sikh suggests it was at least more diverse than the conservative race which, I remind you, was 75% middle-aged white men of British descent. If not for Leslyn Lewis, a Black woman who immigrated from Jamaica, it would have been a total write-off in terms of diversity.

BTW, the voting age for the Green leadership race is 14, so the party youth are actually being given a say in the leadership. Kudos to the Greens for that decision.

 

[ninj]

The Greens have my vote unless Chrystia Freeland becomes the leader of the Libs. I think the Green Party could start to retool the green economy and that's critical.

 

[Kimmio Laughterlove]

I'd would've rather seen Jody Wilson Reybould run for PM. She has more integrity, after the SNC Lavalin scandal. And she's extremely intelligent and accomplished and not phoney, she doesn't seem to have an outsized ego. Freeland just stuck by Trudeau. She didn't back up the first indigenous female AG. As an independent its a pretty slim chance Jody will run (not sure she even can). Maybe she could join another party and run. Maybe Greens. Maybe NDP.

 

[Northwind]

I wondered what had happened to the Green leadership race. The person selected will have big shoes to fill. I've been interested in the green party, mostly I think, because of Ms May. My concern is that beyond their environmental platform, they seem to have pretty conservative policies. Is this accurate?

 

[ninj]

I wondered what had happened to the Green leadership race. The person selected will have big shoes to fill. I've been interested in the green party, mostly I think, because of Ms May. My concern is that beyond their environmental platform, they seem to have pretty conservative policies. Is this accurate?

I think people would be surprised. There is a need to research. The Greens are focused on the environment and not so much on social issues except the basics like health care. They are not besties with unions either.

 

[Northwind]

I think people would be surprised. There is a need to research. The Greens are focused on the environment and not so much on social issues except the basics like health care. They are not besties with unions either.

That's what I thought. Our MP here is Green. He seems fine. I'm comfortable with them being a significant voice in the House. I'm not sure I'd want them leading the country.

 

[Northwind]

I'd would've rather seen Jody Wilson Reybould run for PM. She has more integrity, after the SNC Lavalin scandal. And she's extremely intelligent and accomplished and not phoney, she doesn't seem to have an outsized ego. Freeland just stuck by Trudeau. She didn't back up the first indigenous female AG. As an independent its a pretty slim chance Jody will run (not sure she even can). Maybe she could join another party and run. Maybe Greens. Maybe NDP.

What does this have to do with the topic of this thread?

 

[Kimmio Laughterlove]

What does this have to do with the topic of this thread?

Ninjafaery said she'd vote Green unless Freeland is in the running for PM. I would like to see Jody Wilson Reybould join another party - maybe the Greens would be a good fit - but I wouldn't vote for Freeland just because she's an intelligent woman. She showed that her career was more important than principles. She stuck by her boss to become his number one woman, instead of standing by an incredibly promising, and honest and credible, indigenous female colleague. What Trudeau did was corrupt and she supported him. It was opportunistic. I don't know why she's suddenly an excellent PM candidate. I don't know why she'd be better than whoever the next Green leader is.

 

[Mendalla]

Jody Wilson Reybould join another party - maybe the Greens would be a good fit

My gut feeling is that she sits in the wilderness for a term or two, then worms her way back into the Liberals to take a shot at their leadership. Or maybe turns CPC if they finally swing back to where the old Progressive Conservatives used to sit (middle with a right lean in fiscal policy). I could see her in the cabinet of someone like a Mulroney or Clark, not so much O'Toole. However, I am not sure that she would be interested in joining the "fringe" and leading a party with two seats to their name after rising as high as she did in Liberals. Not that I would complain. As a Green voter, I would be fine with her joining the party and maybe leading it someday. But it's clearly not happening this time around.

 

[BetteTheRed]

Yay! I'm a Green Party member since forever, cast my ranked ballot (yesterday, actually, waiting for mail to come in, as I got a fair bit of mailed candidate information). The candidate that I ranked #1, is the new leader! Toronto lawyer Annamie Paul! And here's a wyrd one. I'm not much of a telephone person, largely don't answer it. I'd researched candidate's bios, read the stuff sent to me, listened to the phone messages. Hadn't decided. One of Annamie's phone team contacted me. Happened to be a "good moment" to yack for a few minutes for me. She was so enthusiastic, and "converted" by Annamie that I was quite moved by the convo.

 

[Mendalla]

A pretty good choice, though I have some reservations about her background. A lot of her work experience has been politics-adjacent, not quite a professional politician but not a lot of experience in a real world job, either. Still, she has a solid educational background. She came fourth in Toronto Centre last year but with Bill Morneau, the incumbent, gone maybe she has a shot in the by-election to replace him.

 

[Lastpointe]

Less Than 24,000 Votes cast all together. That doesn’t speak strongly for their presence in Canada

 

[Mendalla]

Less Than 24,000 Votes cast all together. That doesn’t speak strongly for their presence in Canada

When you consider what a political force they've become in parts of Europe, their performance here is a bit sad. Our system works best with a diversity of parties and voices and I think the Green have something to contribute to that. They have a national voice, unlike the BQ, and a surprisingly broad platform, well beyond the environmentalism they are associated with. To be fair, that's partly because they see the environment as touching on everything. However, I tend to see it that way, too, which is why I've been a Green voter (but not member) for a couple decades now. If I join a party, it would probably be them.

 

[mgagnonlv]

There is also competition with the NDP. NPD promotes social values and (most of the time) environment. Green party promotes the environment and, over the years, their social policies were sometimes great, sometimes not so great. There were a lot of fringe candidates that had a social agenda even to the left of the NDP, but I'm not sure about the new leader and the orientation the Greens will take.

I guess the Green Party, the NDP... and the Parti québécois have the same issue : either they stick to a more hard core agenda, keep membership happy but loose their grip in the population, or they mellow their agenda, discourage all their members and please the population. The latter works until the population decide to look elsewhere, which is currently happening with the Parti québécois. It currently is the 4th party in Québec (out of 4) and seems to be going further down, even though it's the party with the largest membership. Another common trait between the Parti québécois and the Green party: both have (or had) a mission – not the same mission obviously –, but both have members who are more socialist than Nikki Ashton and other members who are almost as conservative as Jason Kenny. It's difficult to keep them focussed together.

Greens have to find a way to look less of a "fringe party" in the general population. But they also need to keep their mission and find ways to keep all its members motivated and going in the same direction.

 

[Carolla]

I was interested to hear Annamie Paul on CBC radio this afternoon. She had a lot of positive things to say, and I feel more hopeful about the future of the Greens in Canada as they broaden their view and work to include all voices in healthy policy development positions.

 

[Luce NDs]

I was interested to hear Annamie Paul on CBC radio this afternoon. She had a lot of positive things to say, and I feel more hopeful about the future of the Greens in Canada as they broaden their view and work to include all voices in healthy policy development positions.

I heard that too! Very interesting and fresh ...