Mulroney-Schreiber Scandal
The Mulroney-Schreiber scandal refers to the complex personal, political and business relationship between the Rt. Hon Brian Mulroney, 18th Prime Minister of Canada, and Karlheinz Schreiber, a German-born Canadian businessman.
Brian Mulroney, 18th Prime Minister of Canada (CPAC)
At the heart of this scandal are the cash payments made by Karlheinz Schreiber to Brian Mulroney in 1993, allegedly agreed to while Mulroney was still Prime Minister, with the first of the three cash payments occurring while Mulroney was still a Member of Parliament. Mr. Mulroney contends these payments were for work he did internationally, lobbying on behalf of Thyssen Armoured Vehicles, a German company represented by Schreiber. Mr. Schreiber maintains the payments were for work Mr. Mulroney was to do lobbying the Canadian government. There is a question as to whether lobbying the Canadian government of Members of Parliament on behalf of the Thyssen corporation would have constituted a violation of the conflict of interest or post employment code in force at the time as well as the Parliament of Canada Act [1].
The Harper government had long been aware that allegations existed concerning Mr. Mulroney and his relationship with Karlheinz Schreiber. Prime Minister Harper was present with Mr. Mulroney at the Greenest Prime Minister Awards when Mulroney was questioned by journalists specifically about the cash payments he received from Schreiber [2].
Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada
Despite this, the Harper government continued its close association with Brian Mulroney, allowing him wide-ranging access to members of Cabinet, allowing him to be a successful advocate on many files, including telecommunications for his employer, Quebecor. Indeed, Prime Minister Harper claimed to regularly consult Mulroney as a political advisor, and Harper cabinet minister Marjory Lebreton was said to be in daily phone contact with Brian Mulroney [3].
On November 8th, 2007, Karlheinz Schreiber filed an affidavit in Federal Court in Toronto detailing his extensive relationship with Brian Mulroney over many years, including the meetings with Mulroney while he was Prime Minister, and the cash payments he made to Mr. Mulroney It was also revealed that Mr. Schreiber had made many of these same allegations in a March 2007 letter to Prime Minister Harper.
On November 9th, Stephen Harper called a press conference announcing that members of the government should cease their dealings with Brian Mulroney, and that he was engaging Dr. David Johnson to recommend whether a public inquiry into the allegations was warranted. Days later, after Mr. Mulroney himself said he welcomed an inquiry, Mr. Harper yielded to opposition demands and agreed to call a judicial inquiry. .
Peter Van Loan, Conservative House Leader (Source: pm.gc.ca)
Dr. Johnson reported on Monday, April 7th, recommending a limited inquiry into the affair. He even suggested the inquiry commissioner might want to make the hearings more "efficient" by holding parts of the probe in secret. Responding to the report, Government House Leader Peter Van Loan told reporters, "We will be acting on the recommendations that Professor Johnston has provided and a commissioner should be appointed very soon.".
The government then delayed appointing a commissioner for another 66 days likely to ensure that an inquiry could not be up an running until 2009, well after an expected fall election.
On June 12th, 2008 the government appointed Jeffrey Oliphant, associate chief justice of Manitoba's Court of Queen's Bench to head the judicial inquiry [4].
The Oliphant inquiry is not scheduled to begin until February 2009. Richard Wolson, the Winnipeg lawyer serving as chief counsel to the probe, says he and his staff face a huge amount of work compiling and analyzing documentary evidence before they can put any witnesses on the stand [5].
References[1] Harper announces public inquiry into Mulroney Schreiber affair, The Canadian Press, Jan 11, 2008 [2] Video seen in “Brian Mulroney: The Unauthorized Chapter”, The Fifth Estate broadcast Oct 31., 2007[3] Mulroney casts long shadow in Harper circle, The Globe And Mail, November 10, 2007 [4] Judge appointed by Mulroney named to lead Schreiber inquiry, Edmonton Journal, June 13, 2008 [5] No hearings until next year in long awaited Mulroney Schreiber probe, The Canadian Press, Aug 12, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
The Bernier Affair
The Bernier Affair
When he was first elected to the House of Commons in January of 2006, Maxime Bernier was a rising star within the Conservative Party and Quebec politics. His rise came to a sudden stop when, on May 26, 2008, he was forced to resign after violating rules of Cabinet secrecy and mishandling sensitive government documents.
 Maxime Bernier, Minister of Foreign Affairs(Source: pm.gc.ca) |
No one knew it at the time, but the beginning of the end of Mr. Bernier’s cabinet career began in August of 2007, when his then-girlfriend Julie Couillard accompanied him to his swearing in at Rideau Hall. Media would later report that Mr. Bernier had referred to Ms. Couillard as his “spouse” for the purposes of international travel for official business. Over subsequent months, Ms. Couillard accompanied her boyfriend on a number of trips, including events at the Canadian embassy in Paris and the United Nations in New York City, where she had her photo taken with U.S. President George W. Bush [1].
On May 7, 2008, media first reported that Ms. Couillard had ties to the Quebec wing of the Hell’s Angels biker gang, having dated one member and marrying another (from whom she was divorced in 1999). Subsequent reports suggested her ties to the gangs had continued up until as recently as 2005 [2]. Opposition parties immediately demanded reassurance from the government that national security had not been compromised by Mr. Bernier’s relationship, but all such demands were rebuffed, particularly by the Prime Minister, who accused the opposition of being “a group of gossipy old busybodies” prying into the personal lives of a federal minister [3].
 Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada |
The Conservative government continued on this tack even after the Minister handed in his resignation on Monday, May 26, 2008, when he admitted to leaving sensitive briefing materials at Ms. Couillard’s home, where they remained unprotected (and their loss undetected by government officials) for seven weeks [4].
In spite of numerous inquiries in and out of Parliament, many questions still remain unanswered by the government. When did the Prime Minister know documents had gone missing and when was his office fully informed of Ms. Couillard’s background? How could the government have lost track of the documents, some of which related to Canada’s Afghanistan strategy and our relationship with NATO? Who, other than the Minister and Ms. Couillard saw the documents? What steps has the government taken to ensure no such embarrassing episode happens again? [5]
An investigation initiated by the Clerk of the Privy Council failed to provide answers to these questions. This internal investigation did not even have the authority necessary to question Ms. Couillard. As Parliament prepared to return in the fall of 2008, the Public Safety Committee of the House of Commons resolved to summons Ms. Couillard to give her side of the story when the House resumes.
For her part, Ms. Couillard has written a book about the matter, slated for publication in early October 2008.
The final controversy of Mr. Bernier’s tenure as Minister of Foreign Affairs was not his first. Almost from the moment of his appointment, in August of 2007, Mr. Bernier was the subject of opposition and media scrutiny. Key lapses included:
- his failure to adequately intervene in the case of Brenda Martin, a Canadian woman stranded in a Mexican prison for two years;
- his silence in the international effort to ban cluster munitions;
- embarrassing the government of Afghanistan by publicly suggesting the governor of Kandahar be replaced;
- his lack of response to international crises in Pakistan, Kenya, Sri Lanka or Zimbabwe; and,
- his abdication of duty on a range of issues to other ministers – Afghan detainees (Peter McKay), death row inmates abroad (Stockwell Day), the proposed sale of the Radarsat 2 satellite system (Jim Prentice), the Brenda Martin Case (Helena Guergis and Jason Kenney), a summit of foreign affairs ministers of Arctic nations in Greenland (Gary Lunn).
Mr. Bernier remains in the Conservative Caucus, now sitting as a backbencher.
References
[1] He 'destroyed my life,' girlfriend says; 'I've been cut off from the world', The Toronto Star, May 27, 2008
[2] Tories defend Bernier after new report links ex-girlfriend with gang, The Globe And Mail, May 17, 2008; 'Maxime knew' of biker ties, Couillard says, CBC.CA News, May 27, 2008
[3] 'Busybodies' told that Bernier's life is private; Did Foreign Minister compromise security with ex-girlfriend who had links to biker gangs? 'It's none of my business,' PM says, The Globe And Mail, May 9, 2008
[4] Bernier resigns; ex-girlfriend confirms he left confidential document with her, Cornwall Standard-Freeholder (On), May 27, 2008; La démission de Maxime Bernier a relancé le débat aux Communes, La Presse Canadienne, 27 mai 2008
[5] Harper owes us some answers, National Post, May 28, 2008
Or as i will call the guy butterfigirs
Monday, September 15, 2008
NAFTAgate
This one is so bad
http://www.scandalpedia.ca/Scandals/NAFTAgate_en.html
NAFTAgate
In March 2008, the senior officials within the Stephen Harper government were accused of interfering in the U.S. Presidential race by leaking to media information damaging to the campaign of Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama. Media were told of a private meeting between an Obama adviser and a Canadian diplomat to discuss Mr. Obama’s position on NAFTA.
| Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada |
The sources of the leaks were alleged to include Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Chief of Staff Ian Brodie and Canada’s Ambassador to the U.S. and Harper appointee Michael Wilson.
According to a leaked internal memo obtained by Associated Press, Obama advisor Austan Goolsbee told Canadian Consul General Georges Rioux that Obama’s attack on free trade is “more reflective of political manoeuvring than policy.”[1] Goolsbee, however, later insisted those weren’t his words, but rather a mischaracterization by a consulate employee.
At first the Conservatives denied involvement in the leak. “Ian Brodie does not recall discussing this matter,” claimed Harper spokeswoman Sandra Buckler. “We stand by that statement.” [2]
Later, however, it emerged that Brodie had in fact made similar comments to reporters during the February 26, 2008 Budget lockup, and the U.S. network ABC cited Brodie as the source.
 Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety (Source: pm.gc.ca) |
The affair, dubbed NAFTA-gate, was played up in the U.S. with Hillary Clinton’s campaign using it to suggest Obama was being duplicitous in his stated opposition to NAFTA. Some believe it affected the outcome in the Ohio Democratic primary, a state with many blue-collar workers, which was won by Clinton. It also may have had an impact on the primary races in states with similar demographics, like Pennsylvania.
Democrat consultant Bob Shrum told U.S. television: “You’ve got a right-wing government in Canada that is trying to help the Republicans and is out there actively interfering in the campaign.” [3]
The Harper government announced it would investigate the leak internally, but said the investigation would focus only on the leak of the memo. This suggested they wouldn’t look at the verbal leak by Brodie. The government also avoided answering questions about whether Ambassador Wilson would be investigated over a conversation with CTV Washington Bureau Chief Tom Clark shortly before CTV broke the story.
 Jason Kenney, Secretary of State Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity (Source: pm.gc.ca) |
On May 23, 2008, Kevin Lynch, Canada's top civil servant, tabled his investigation report. His report exonerated Brodie specifically when it came to the leak of the memo and laid blame on Department of Foreign Affairs officials for misclassifying the memo that led to the leak [4]. Opposition members united in calling the report a "whitewash" and a half-hearted effort of government investigating itself [5].
Only one week later, media reports found more evidence that the Prime Minister's office was directly linked to the leak. Multiple sources linked the controversial memo to Frank Sensenbrenner, son of Wisconsin Republican Congressman James Sensenbrenner. Frank Sensenbrenner was hired on a short term contract in the Canadian Embassy in 2006 and was sponsored by Public Security Minister Stockwell Day. Sensenbrenner has long been linked to Reform Party leaders such as Gerry Chipeur, a former legal counsel to the Reform and Canadian Alliance parties, Alberta MP Jason Kenney, John Reynolds, co-chair of the Conservative 2006 election campaign, and Preston Manning, former leader of the Reform Party of Canada [6].
References
[1] Kitchener-Waterloo Record, March 4, 2008
[2] Canadian Press News Wire, 29 February, 2008
[3] Canadian Press News Wire, March 2, 2008
[4] PM's aide fuelled uproar; Report exonerates Brodie over memo leak but confirms chat likely led to NAFTA furor, The Toronto Star, May 24, 2008
[5] Harper aide cleared in Obama leak; Opposition calls government investigation into PM's chief of staff 'a complete whitewash', Vancouver Sun, May 24, 2008
[6] Signs point to PMO memo to Republican, The Daily Courier (Kelowna), May 28, 2008; NAFTA leaker worked under the radar; PM's office, Stockwell Day had close ties to congressman's son, The Hamilton Spectator, May 28, 2008; The scandal that could really damage Canada, Winnipeg Free Press, June 11, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Flaherty and tailored disability fund
Flaherty and tailored disability fund
http://www.scandalpedia.ca/Scandals/Flahertydisabilityfund_en.html
In April 2008 the Harper Conservative government announced a new $45-million Enabling Accessbility Fund, a program designed to improve facility access for the disabled. However, the request for applications for the program was announced suddenly, contained strict criteria and had an application period that closed within one month, leaving little time for proper submissions.
 Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance |
Shortly after the announcement, reports surfaced that the Fund criteria seemed tailor-made for a project in Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's riding of Whitby. Minister Flaherty and people close to him had long advocated for such a fund to finance a new accessibility centre in his home riding. In fact. the centre's board of directors included Mr. Flaherty's wife, Ontario MPP Christine Elliott, and Nancy Shaw, Mr. Flaherty's executive assistant [1].
The application for the Whitby centre was submitted within eleven days of the Fund's announcement [3].
Organizations representing disabled individuals across Canada claimed that not only did the large grant component of the fund appear custom-made for the Minister's riding, but the smaller component of the fund had such strict criteria that many non-profit organizations could not meet them in such a short time [2].
Despite calls to extend the application period to allow more time for other applicants, the deadline was not moved.
In 2006, the Conservative Party of Canada campaigned on a platform of transparent and accountable government. The platform claimed: "Everyday Canadians – the hardworking people who pay their taxes and play by the rules – want and deserve a new government that will put the people's interest ahead of self-interest" [4].
References
[1] Fund tailored to help Flaherty 'pet project'; Critics see conflict as wife, staffer on board of centre applying for cash, The Ottawa Citizen, April 11, 2008; Flaherty in conflict, critics say; Wife on board of project seeking funds, National Post, April 11, 2008
[2] 'Rigged' fund still open to applicants, Tories retort, CanWest News Service, April 12, 2008
[3] Flaherty under fire over budget spending, The Globe and Mail, April 11, 2008
[4] Stephen Harper, Conservative Party of Canada 2006 Platform
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Green Party of Canada
Green Party of Canada
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Party_of_Canada| Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with around 9,000 registered members as of November 2007[citation needed]. The Greens, as their name indicates, advocate green politics and are the largest party in Canada to focus primarily on green politics, though other parties have included environmental stances in their platforms. The party's support has ranged between 4.5% and 15% since the 2006 federal election and has not polled below 6% in any opinion poll from 2007 onwards. In mid-November 2007 the Greens placed third ahead of both the Bloc and the NDP in a Strategic Counsel poll.[1] In the 2006 election, the Green Party of Canada received 4.5% of the total vote but did not win any seats.[2] Elizabeth May is the current leader of the party. She was elected on the first ballot by 65% of voting party members on August 26, 2006. On August 30, 2008, Vancouver area MP Blair Wilson became the first-ever Green Member of Parliament, after sitting for nearly a year of the 39th Canadian Parliament as an Independent. He had been a Liberal MP, but was expelled from the caucus earlier in the parliament for alleged campaign finance irregularities, of which he was later cleared after an 8-month investigation by Elections Canada.[3] Wilson became a Green Member while Parliament was not in session and was subsequently dissolved on September 7, before he had any opportunity to vote on anything as a Green Party MP. On September 10, 2008 it was announced that all of the four major political parties in Canada "agreed to let Green Party leader Elizabeth May into the country's election debates for the first time."[4] Opposition by two parties to the Green Party participating in the debates was reversed, prompting May to state that her "views are those of overwhelming gratitude to the tens of thousands of Canadians who protested vehemently".
[edit] HistoryAbout one month before the 1980 federal election, eleven candidates, mostly from ridings in the Atlantic provinces, issued a joint press release declaring that they were running on a common platform. It called for a transition to a non-nuclear, conserver society. Although they ran as independents, they unofficially used the name "Small Party" as part of their declaration of unity - a reference to the "small is beautiful" philosophy of E. F. Schumacher. This was the most substantial early attempt to answer the call for an ecologically-oriented Canadian political party. A key organizer (and one of the candidates) was Elizabeth May, who is now leader of the Greens. The Green Party of Canada was founded at a conference held at Carleton University in Ottawa in 1983. Under its first leader, Dr. Trevor Hancock, the party ran 60 candidates in the 1984 Canadian federal election.[5] The Green Party of Canada is independent of other green parties around the world. However, all Green parties share the same philosophy. Its provincial counterparts in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia, support green economics, progressive social planning, and responsible and accountable governance. The Quebec wing hosted the 1990 Canadian Greens conference in Montreal. But soon after that, Canada's constitutional problems interfered, and many Quebec candidates abandoned the Greens in favour of a Quebec sovereigntist party, the Bloc Québécois. There were only six Green candidates from Quebec in the 1993 election. In the spring of 1996, although the hopes of electing a representative to the BC legislature proved premature, Andy Shadrack in the interior of the province received over 11% of the vote. Overall, the party's proportion of the popular vote surged to a new high. Shadrack was also the most popular Green candidate in the 1997 federal election, scoring over 6% of the popular vote in West Kootenay-Okanagan. [edit] Joan Russow yearsBritish Columbia's Joan Russow became leader of the Green Party of Canada on April 13, 1997.[6][7] Russow won 52% of the ballots cast in the 1997 leadership race, surpassing Ontario's Jim Harris (39%) and Rachelle Small (8%). Immediately upon attaining the leadership, Russow was plunged into a federal general election.[7] Russow's campaign in 1997 set a number of important precedents. 1997 federal election was the first campaign in which the Greens conducted a national leader's tour, presented a national platform and a bilingual campaign. Previous campaigns, due in part to the party's few resources and, in part, to the party's constitutional straitjacket, had been characterized by policy and spokespeople operating, at best, province-by-province and, at worst, riding-by-riding. In her own riding of Victoria, Russow received just shy of 3000 votes and 6% of the popular vote. Since its inception, the party has been developing as an organization, expanding its membership and improving its showing at the polls. In the 2000 federal election, the party fielded 111 candidates, up from 78 in 1997. Candidates were not run in Newfoundland and Labrador, as a result of ongoing divisions over Joan Russow's refusal to endorse the Green candidate in an earlier St. John's West by-election. (The candidate in question supported the seal hunt and mining development, as most locals did.)[8] This caused much uncertainty and friction between Newfoundland's Terra Nova Green Party[8] Association and the Green Party leader as the party gradually adapted to the realities of functioning as a true national party rather than a disorganized federation of local activists. The conflicts left Russow isolated and alienated from most members of the party. Volunteer efforts were substantially absorbed in provincial campaigns between 2001 and 2003, and the federal party became dormant between elections, as was typical in the past. Chris Bradshaw served the party as interim leader from 2001 to February 2003. [edit] BreakthroughIn February 2003, Jim Harris, in his second bid for the leadership, defeated John Grogan of Valemount, British Columbia, and Jason Crummey. Crummey was originally from Newfoundland and involved with Newfoundland and Labrador Terra Nova Greens. During the 2004 federal election the Green Party of Canada made history when it became only the fourth federal political party ever to run candidates in all 308 ridings. When the ballots were counted, the Green Party secured 4.3 percent of the popular vote, thereby surpassing the 2 percent threshold required for party financing under new Elections Canada rules.[9] Momentum continued to build around the Green Party of Canada and in the 2006 federal election the Green Party again ran 308 candidates and increased its share of the popular vote to 4.5 percent, once again securing federal financing as a result. The party's 2006 election campaign was disrupted by allegations made by Matthew Pollesell, the party's former assistant national organizer, that Harris had not filed a proper accounting of money spent during his 2004 leadership campaign, as required by law. Pollesell issued a request that Elections Canada investigate. Pollesell and another former party member, Gretchen Schwarz, were subsequently warned by the party's legal counsel to retract allegations they had made or face a possible legal action. Dana Miller, who served in the party's shadow cabinet with responsibility for human-rights issues, made public her earlier complaints that the party has violated election law and its own constitution and has also asked for an Elections Canada investigation. Miller had been expelled from the party after filing a complaint within the party in April.[10] [edit] Elizabeth May daysA leadership vote was held at the party's August 2006 convention. On April 24, 2006, Jim Harris announced his intention not to stand for re-election as party leader.[11] Three candidates officially entered the leadership race: David Chernushenko, Elizabeth May, and Jim Fannon. May won the leadership with 65% of the vote on the first ballot. On October 22, 2006, Elizabeth May announced she would run in the federal by-election to be held on November 27, 2006 in London North Centre, Ontario. She finished second behind the Liberal candidate but garnered 26% of the popular vote. On August 30, 2008. British Columbia Independent MP Blair Wilson joined the party, becoming its first MP. [12] [edit] PoliciesThe GPC had originally adopted a form of the Ten Key Values originally authored by the United States Green Party. The August 2002 Convention adopted the Six Principles of the Charter of the Global Greens, as stated by the Global Greens Conference held in Canberra, Australia in 2001. These principles are the only ones included in the GPC constitution. An emphasis on a green tax shift in the 2004 platform, which favoured partially reducing income and corporate taxes (while increasing taxes on polluters and energy consumers), created questions as to whether the Green Party was still on the left of the political spectrum, or was taking a more eco-capitalist approach by reducing progressive taxation in favour of regressive taxation. Green Party policy writers have challenged this interpretation by claiming that any unintended "regressive" tax consequences from the application of a Green Tax Shift would be intentionally offset by changes in individual tax rates and categories as well as an 'eco-tax" refund for those who pay no tax. As early as 2000, the party had published platform comparisons indicating the reasons why supporters of any of the five other Canadian federal political parties should consider voting Green. The Greens have always had right-wing, leftist and centrist factions that have been ascendant at different times in the party's history. Many Greens also claim that this traditional left-right political spectrum analysis does not accurately capture the pragmatic ecological orientation of an evolving Green Party.[13] The ecumenical approach (expressing affinities with all Canadian political tendencies and making cases to voters on all parts of the left-right spectrum) has been advocated by those who believe their success can be measured by the degree to which other parties adopt Green Party policies. It has however not been discerned the degree to which this process has contributed to phenomena like the Liberal Party of Canada adopting several key items which also appear in the Green program, such as accelerated Capital Cost Allowance deductions restricted to sustainable technology only, and the adoption of the ecological and social indicators and green procurement rules Greens have long advocated. Neither have the relative degrees of influence been discerned which non-partisan environmental groups and the party's own Green wing have in developing the policies of the Green Party. Under Elizabeth May's leadership, the Green Party has begun to receive more mainstream media attention on other party policy not directly related to the environment - for example, supporting labour rights[14] and poppy legalization in Afghanistan.[15] [edit] Leadership Long-time environmental activist and lawyer Elizabeth May won the leadership of the federal Green party at a convention in Ottawa on August 26, 2006. Elizabeth won with 2,145 votes, or 65.3 per cent of the valid ballots cast defeating two other candidates. The second-place finisher David Chernushenko, an environmental consultant, owner of Green & Gold Inc. and two time candidate, collected 1,096 votes or 33.3 per cent of the total, while Jim Fannon, real estate agent at RE/MAX Garden City Realty, four time candidate and founder of Nature's Hemp finished a distant third, collecting just 29 votes or 0.88 per cent of the vote of the vote. ("None of the above" finished last with 13 votes or 0.44 per cent of the final vote.)[16] On November 21, 2006, May appointed outgoing Green Party of British Columbia leader Adriane Carr and Quebec television host Claude Genest as Deputy Leaders of the Party.[17] David Chernushenko, who ran against Elizabeth May for the party leadership, was the Senior Deputy to the Leader for the first year after Elizabeth May was elected leader. Previous leader Jim Harris was first elected to the office with over 80% of the vote and the support of the leaders of all of the provincial level Green parties. He was re-elected on the first ballot by 56% of the membership in a leadership challenge vote in August 2004. Tom Manley placed second with over 30% of the vote. A few months after the 2004 convention, Tom Manley was appointed Deputy Leader. On September 23, 2005, Manley left the party to join the Liberal Party of Canada. [edit] Party leaders
[edit] Federal election results
Source: History of Federal elections since 1867 [edit] Electoral statusThe Green Party fielded candidates in all 308 of the nation's ridings in the last two federal elections. In the 2006 federal election, the Green Party received 4.5% of the popular vote, only slightly more than in 2004, despite having received public funding (over $1 million CAD per year) for the first time and receiving more media coverage. A reason for the slow growth might be that in that election, left-leaning supporters of the party were encouraged to vote Liberal (by Liberals) in order to prevent a majority government by the right-wing Conservative party. No Green Party candidate has yet been elected to the federal or provincial level of government in Canada, but the West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country MP, Blair Wilson joined the Green Party on August 30th, 2008. He became the first Green Party elected official at the federal level. Members of the party have achieved municipal offices, though most were elected as individuals and not on Green Party slates or labels in local (at least officially) non-partisan municipal elections. However, some people have been elected with a Green Party affiliation identified directly on the ballot. The first two were elected in the 1999 municipal elections (20 November 1999):
Current Greens in office include:
Andrea Reimer was elected as a trustee on the Vancouver School Board in 2002 as a Green. Former Councillor Elio Di Iorio was narrowly defeated in his 2006 reelection bid in Richmond Hill, Ontario and former Councillor Rob Strang did not run for reelection in Orangeville, Ontario. The late Richard Thomas served as reeve of Armour Township, Ontario from 2003 until his death in 2006. There are about 16 other Greens elected to local governments in BC. [edit] Exclusion from debatesIn the 2004 election, the consortium of Canadian television networks did not invite Jim Harris to the televised leaders debates. The primary reason given for this was the party's lack of representation in the House of Commons. There were unsuccessful legal actions by the party, a petition by its supporters to have it included, and statements by non-supporters such as Ed Broadbent who believed it should be included. The Green Party was also not included in the leaders' debates for the 2006 election.[19] The same reason was given,[20] although some also believed the party's lack of visibility and meaningful input into Canadian federal budgets and bills was a factor[citation needed]. On September 8, 2008, the consortium announced that they would once again exclude the Greens from the French and English debates for the 2008 election, to be held on October 1 and 2 respectively. The party had secured a seat in the House at this point (Blair Wilson), satisfying the necessary criteria used in all previous debates dating to at least 1993. (Wilson was not elected as a Green MP; however, the situation parallels that of the Bloc Quebecois in 1993 - to that point, all its members had been elected as either Conservatives or Liberals or, in Gilles Duceppe's case, as an independent, before the group formally registered as a political party. The Bloc was nevertheless included in the 1993 debates.) However, the consortium said that three parties (later identified as the Conservatives, NDP, and one other party) had threatened to boycott the debate if the Green Party was included, and that it had decided it was better to proceed with the four larger parties "in the interest of Canadians". Liberal leader Stephane Dion supported May's inclusion in the debates but said he would also pull out if Harper withdrew. Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe said that while his party is against the Greens' inclusion, he would attend the debate whether or not they were included.[21] The Green Party said it would sue to force the consortium to allow it to participate.[22][23] This was not necessary, however, because of the networks reversal two days later. Many people protested the threatened boycott of Layton and Harper by staging protests, and phoning in and emailing the networks and the opposing parties, prompting both parties to recant their position.[24] [edit] Internet innovationWhile the organizing and election planning was centralized, policy development was to be decentralized. In February 2004, the Green Party of Canada Living Platform was initiated by the Party's former Head of Platform and Research, Michael Pilling, to open the party's participatory democracy to the public to help validate its policies against broad public input. It also made it easy for candidates to share their answers to public interest group questionnaires, find the best answers to policy questions, and for even rural and remote users, and Canadians abroad, to contribute to Party policy intelligence. [edit] Membership exclusionsIn 1998, the party adopted a rule that forbids membership in any other federal political party. This was intended to prevent the party from being taken over. In the past, some Green Party members have been comfortable openly working with members of other political parties. For instance, GPC members Peter Bevan-Baker and Mike Nickerson worked with Liberal MP Joe Jordan to develop the Canada Well-Being Measurement Act that called upon the government to implement Genuine Progress Indicators (GPI). While the act was introduced into the House of Commons as a private members bill, it never became law. A small number of Greens who advocate the more cooperative approach to legislation object to the new rule not to hold cross-memberships, a tool they occasionally employed. [edit] Peace and Ecology Party of CanadaIn 2005, some members of the Green Party of Canada, who disagreed with what they considered to be the right-wing direction taken by leader Jim Harris, founded the Peace and Ecology Party of Canada. This left-wing political party was devoted to issues such as labour, the environment, and bioregionalism. The party was never registered with Elections Canada, and did not run candidates in the 2006 federal election.[25] [edit] May-Dion electoral co-operationWith Stéphane Dion winning the Liberal leadership on a largely environmentalist platform, and both the Liberals and Greens having a shared interest in both defeating the Conservatives, whose environmental policies have come under criticism from members of both parties, some political observers questioned if an alliance of some sort between the two parties might take place. When May made the announcement that she would run in Central Nova, currently held by Peter MacKay, local Liberals would "neither confirm nor deny" that they had had discussions with May over ways to unseat MacKay.[26] On March 21st, Dion said, "Madame May and I have conversations about how we may work together to be sure that this government will stop to do so much harm to our environment". The speculation was confirmed when Dion and May agreed not to run candidates in each other's ridings. [27] May earlier attempted to broker a deal with the NDP, by contacting Stephen Lewis to set up a meeting with party leader Jack Layton, who both rejected the notion outright. When the May-Dion deal was announced, it was criticized by the Conservatives and NDP.[28][29][30] [edit] Elected officials[edit] Provincial partiesAlmost every province has a Green political party. There is currently no provincial Green Party per sé in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Terra Nova Greens were originally loosely affiliated with the federal party, but most supporters cut ties to the national party in 2006 (or earlier) over its opposition to seal hunting. TNG is not a registered provincial political party and seems to have been disbanded; its website has not been updated since 2000. [edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
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