Green Party Watch

Speculation had been swirling………..well actually everyone pretty much knew where Canadian Green Party Leader Elizabeth May was going to run in the next election. The lucky riding in question is Saanich Gulf Islands. In 2008, May baffled everyone by running in Nova Scotia in unfriendly territory against one of the most entrenched Conservative Party cabinet members. This time May is looking to do very well and plans to campaign most of the time in her riding as opposed to 2008 where she spent a lot of time campaigning across the country.

The Canadian Greens’ quest to win their first seat in Parliament will not be without obstacles though. Another Green, by the name of Stuart Herzog, is challenging May for the nomination in Saanich Gulf Islands. Herzog claims that May had undemocratically used her power to tilt the nomination process in her favor.

Here are some news clippings:

CBC:

Lunn will likely be a tough opponent for May. He won the riding in 1997 as a Reform Party candidate and has held it through four straight elections. The veteran Conservative cabinet minister’s portfolio includes Vancouver’s 2010 Olympic Games.

But the riding, which includes several island communities, is also considered to have strong support for Green candidates, who won about 10 per cent of the vote in the past two elections, and nearly 17 per cent of the vote in 2004.

“Saanich-Gulf Islands has a tremendous appetite for change. People here are deeply committed to green values,” May said Tuesday as she announced her intentions while standing on the Sidney seashore.

Globe and Mail:

“There’s such a strong base here of people who have moved, as I just have, from across the country because they want the lifestyle here and part of that lifestyle is being very much branded and living what is a greener lifestyle,” she said. “That is so strong here. It’s palpable.”

About the Herzog’s claims of an unfair nomination process:

In a letter to Elections Canada that he later posted on his website, Hertzog claims the party transferred $62,000 into the Saanich-Gulf Island’s electoral district association’s accounts on two conditions — that it selects May as its candidate for the next election and that her campaign manager, John Fryer, have control of the money.

Hertzog said May is using the money to fund her nomination campaign and has asked Elections Canada to investigate.

“Elizabeth May has a funded campaign she can use to win the nomination,” Hertzog said Saturday. “The funding has come from the party specifically for her to win the nomination,” he said.

This is turning out to be an interesting race indeed! Everyone is speculating that the Harper Conservative government will be brought down sometime this Fall.

Are the Canadian Greens election ready? Let’s hope so!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 8th, 2009 at 4:42 pm and is filed under International Greens. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.