The Greens don’t need a seat, Really?

In his Ottawa Citizen column of August 24, 2009, (The greens don’t need a seat) Andrew Potter suggests that Green Party members occupy their time as the environmental wing of the Liberals and spend their time lobbying on issues rather that in pursuing seats in parliament that they are unlikely to win. This opinion piece is both arrogant and misguided.

Firstly, the Green Party of Canada can only accomplish what it does because it secures funding from supporters and from Elections Canada because of its ability to secure a significant share of votes in federal elections. Without funding and without securing visibility through the electoral process, it would be able to accomplish little and its volunteer base would disappear.

Secondly, lobbying is primarily in the domain of issue specific organizations (e.g. the Sierra Club of Canada on environmental issues). As a political party the greens address the full spectrum of political issues within the federal domain, not just the environment. It is true that the Green Party vision addresses issues from a sustainability perspective but it maintains a viable perspective on all of them. Further, within Green Party members there is diverse opinion and there is democratic debate on all issues.

The issue that prevents the Green Party from winning seats and having the voice it should have in Parliament is the current electoral system. Over 10 per cent of voters support the Greens, yet they do not have any representation in Parliament (Ottawa Citizen, Letters-to-the Editor, Give Greens a chance, K. Jean Cottam, Aug 26, 2009). As K. Jean Cottam the letter states: “The answer is to change the outdated, seriously malfunctioning Canadian political system.”