greenpolitics.ca

Where did Canada’s Green parties come off the rails? Or more likely, how come the Greens never really got on track in the first place? I’ve pondered this many times over the past 25 years, and it seems to me that besides the centralised, hierarchical structure I’ve already discussed, the main reasons for its failure are conventional political thinking, political naïvité, and lack of a strategic vision. But there’s more….

As polls show public support for the Green Party of Canada rising steadily to between 10% and 12% nationally and up to 15% here in BC, the tension between possible electoral success and the party’s set of basic Green political values becomes even more apparent. The problem is that most party members have no knowledge or understanding of core Green values.

This is the second of a two-part series on restructuring Green political parties in accordance with Green values. The first part of this series considered the democratic deficiencies present in centralised Green parties. This second part presents a non-hierarchical structural model that offers many advantages to revitalise Green parties as dynamic centres of citizen activism.

Despite the intent to create a more democratic political process, many Green parties from the start adopted the same ‘top-down’ hierarchical structure as mainstream political parties. Their leadership progressively sealed themselves off from the party’s grass roots, and in many cases membership and fundraising declined precipitously. This analysis looks at why.

Although an eight-month Elections Canada investigation cleared him of any serious wrongdoing, the choice of West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast MP Blair Wilson as Canada’s first Green MP throws serious doubt on Green Party leader Elizabeth May’s commitment to the fundamental Green political principles of ecocentrism and grassroots democracy.

Country Report — Italy

Mainstream Italian politicians claim to pursue the sustainable path, but their real aim is continued economic growth, explains Italian correspondent Guido Dalla Casa. Unfortunately, the Italian Green Party also has nothing ‘deep green’ about it, so no help for the planet will come out of Italy.

Country Report — UK Part 1

Despite increasing rhetoric about the necessity for ‘going green’ to combat climate change, anti-environmental thinking and prosperity have prevented the UK Green Party from capitalising on the precipitous decline in support for New Labour under the leadership of prime minister Gordon Brown, writes UK correspondent Sandy Irvine.

Seeking to end two decades on the fringes of politics, BC Greens took their first tentative steps on the slippery slope to power. Whether it leads towards the Green ideals of world peace, ecological and social justice, and grassroots democracy depends on whether the party sells its soul in its quest for influence.

We cannot continue to flounder around with the outmoded ideas of the past. Our very survival is at stake: the future of this planet and the vitality and well-being of the Green movement in Canada, is on the line. The goal of this discussion paper is to raise the prospect of achieving a regionalized structure for the Green movement, one that will allow it to evolve along fully democratic lines. A secondary aim to outline a new concept of federal organisation, one that can be applied to all national Canadian institutions.