Go Green or Go Home: Canadian Election 2008

As we all know well, our American friends will be electing their new president in just a couple of months.  It seems we Canadians will also be going to the polls this fall…October 14, to be exact. 

Yesterday Prime Minister Stephen Harper went to visit Governor General Michaëlle Jean, in order to ask her to dissolve the current parliament.  The question I keep asking myself is, “Why?”  Well, the National Post quoted Prime Minister Harper answering this very question:  "This Parliament is at its useful end," Harper said. "Canadians have to give somebody a mandate."

So basically, Harper just isn’t getting his way.

A big part of the new mandate should be focused on the Canadian parliament’s view of ecological concerns and their policies affecting the environment.  Here’s a quick rundown of four major party’s views and political promises when it comes to being green.  (And for a quick rundown of the Canadian electoral system, see Karen’s excellent article over at BlogHer, Canadian Elections 101.)

Conservative Party

The Conservative Party’s list of values includes “A belief that the quality of the environment is a vital part of our heritage to be protected by each generation for the next.”  If you visit their website you can see that they’ve listed Environment as one of the party’s key issues, and although they’ve laid out their record of environmental actions, they’ve also taken the time to point out the ways in which they feel the other parties have let Canadians down.  This just makes me feel "icky."

Green Party

The Green Party’s platform is focused almost entirely on ecological issues.  Their platform is based on six fundamental principles:  Ecological Wisdom, Social Justice, Participatory Democracy, Non-Violence, Sustainability and Respect for Diversity.  The Green Party recently celebrated the achievement of electing its first Member of Parliament, Blair Wilson (West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast), into the House of Commons.  Plus, the leader of the Green Party is a woman, which, needless to say, is pretty cool.

Liberal Party

The Liberal Party’s vision includes something it calls “The Green Shift,” which it describes as “a bold plan to shift our economy away from fuels that pollute and contribute to the climate change crisis, and toward more efficient and cleaner energy.”  While the Liberal Party has taken this positive planning step, it’s difficult to determine from its website what exactly the party has achieved in the past with respect to environmental concerns.

NDP

The NDP believes that “It’s time for a Prime Minister with a record of environmental achievement who will tackle climate change and seize the opportunities of the new energy economy.”  The party lists the ways it has worked toward achieving a greener planet, but like the Conservatives, have also made the effort to detail the shortcomings of its opponents.

All four of these parties have extensive, user-friendly websites, and most are taking advantage of new media in getting out their messages.  The Conservatives and the NDP both have Twitter accounts, and blogging is a big part of Green Party activism.  NDP's website features a section containing blogging tools, including badges and streaming video for blogger sidebars.  All four parties are on Facebook.

Let’s make a real effort during this short, but significant Canadian election campaign to get the word out.  Write about the issues you are passionate about, and link back to the party’s sites so they will know you mean business!

The main sites for learning more about the environmental goals of these parties are:

• Conservative Party of Canada
• Green Party
• Liberal Party of Canada
• NDP

Comments

[motherbumper]

This is exactly what I needed to read - when making this kind of decision I like it to be informed. Pin the tail on the donkey hasn't been serving me well so far. Anyhow, isn't it funny how the Liberal's use the word "shift" and seem so shifty about actual facts? heh.