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Elizabeth May Wins Green Leadership
Well, superactivist Elizabeth May is now heading the fledgling-but-growing Green Party of Canada. I'm far from an expert on the issue, but I'd venture to say that this will be better short-term than it will be long-term.
The second-place candidate, Dave Chernushenko, is more in the mould of a eco-businessman, even moreso than the outgoing Jim Harris. I think that May will give the party street cred on the left for now, but in the long run, Chernushenko would have done a better job establishing the Greens as a force. With May, the Greens will probably make some more inroads on NDP and Lefty Liberal ground, but they'll just be handing the Cons election after election. I can see their support peetering out well below that of the NDP.
If they had gone with Chernushenko's "look yuppie, legislate hippie" approach, I think they could have worked their way into the economic corridors of the country. Making ecological platforms feasible & friendly to business would be a good way to cut into Conservative support, as well as that of the other parties.
The special thing about Canada's Green Party was that they incorporated the obvious 'green-types,' but also reached out to groups that were traditionally unresponsive to environmental concerns. I think that electing May will take the party down a path toward near-identity with the NDP, which, while not in and of itself a 'bad thing,' is certainly a poor political strategy.
Well, superactivist Elizabeth May is now heading the fledgling-but-growing Green Party of Canada. I'm far from an expert on the issue, but I'd venture to say that this will be better short-term than it will be long-term.
The second-place candidate, Dave Chernushenko, is more in the mould of a eco-businessman, even moreso than the outgoing Jim Harris. I think that May will give the party street cred on the left for now, but in the long run, Chernushenko would have done a better job establishing the Greens as a force. With May, the Greens will probably make some more inroads on NDP and Lefty Liberal ground, but they'll just be handing the Cons election after election. I can see their support peetering out well below that of the NDP.
If they had gone with Chernushenko's "look yuppie, legislate hippie" approach, I think they could have worked their way into the economic corridors of the country. Making ecological platforms feasible & friendly to business would be a good way to cut into Conservative support, as well as that of the other parties.
The special thing about Canada's Green Party was that they incorporated the obvious 'green-types,' but also reached out to groups that were traditionally unresponsive to environmental concerns. I think that electing May will take the party down a path toward near-identity with the NDP, which, while not in and of itself a 'bad thing,' is certainly a poor political strategy.
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