greenpolitics.ca

Although philosopher George Santayana offered the sage advice to learn from history or repeat it, it seems that his message hasn’t yet reached the inner sanctum of the Green Party of BC. By parachuting herself into the recently-announced Victoria-Fairview byelection, leader Jane Sterk is making the same mistake as her predecessor.

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.

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.

After a hotly-contested race, the BC Green Party chose Esquimalt councillor Jane Sterk as their new Leader. She’s going to have to use all her impressive political and personal skills to repair the damage of the previous eleven months and build the party into a vote-getting machine for 2009.