Revolutionary Moderation

Amateur Hour

Elizabeth May, leader of the federal Green Party, has decided to run in Central Nova, against the locally- and nationally-popular Peter McKay. She says the move will raise the profile of the Green Party.

I'm no friend of the Green Party. I think the last thing the left in this country needs is to split their vote. The lessons of the Reform Party should be obvious to all involved - how would the politics of the 90s have been different if Preston Manning had decided that the Tories had needed renewal from inside, and started organizing there?

However, I'm still willing to offer a little advice. Liz, are you a moron? Deranged, perhaps? Your party has some profile. What it doesn't have, the one thing the Green Party needs to be taken seriously, is a seat. Any seat. You might win Central Nova - I suppose it's possible. But what's the risk/reward ratio here? You're taking on a far more difficult battle than required, and if you manage to win, in a month people across the country are going to forget who you beat to win the seat. Or worse, if you win the seat in the face of a national Tory majority, people may even blame you for taking a moderating voice out of that caucus. And that's all under your bast-case scenario, that you win. The far more likely outcome is that you run a respectable second, and everyone ignores you and your party again until the next federal election.

You're a national party leader, Ms May. No one will blame you for parachuting into a seat. But by parachuting into this seat, all you're offering your party is more years in the wilderness.