Greens were too relaxed, says candidate

By Dan Hilborn
Published Jan. 25, 2006


The Green Party needs to get back to its roots and start acting a little more radical if it wants to elect members to Canada's Parliament.

That was the diagnosis from Burnaby-Douglas candidate Ray Power after the party of environmental activists failed to make the big breakthrough it was hoping for in the 2006 federal election.

"We were too quiet," Power told the Burnaby NOW on Tuesday morning, after the Greens failed to reach their hoped-for one million vote count. "We didn't do what the Greens are expected to do, which is go out and make some noise.

"We became a mainstream party and tried to act like that - very laid back. But if they're going to go anywhere, they have to be more aggressive - a wee bit on the radical side. I wouldn't say we need to be extreme, but if you're going to get attention on the environment, you can't be Mr. Nice Guy."

Overall, the Green Party received just under 666,000 votes, or 4.5 per cent of the popular vote from across the country, up marginally from the 4.3 per cent of the vote count they received just 18 months ago.

Power, a former Progressive Conservative candidate who has also run as an independent and centre-right candidate in previous Vancouver and Burnaby civic elections, said the results indicate that most Canadians are unable to make up their minds about what kind of government they want.

"It's hard to figure out where people want to go," he said. "First, we get a Liberal minority and now a Conservative minority. I guess in eight months we'll go back to the polls again, and end up with a different minority government."

While other pundits may be pointing to a left-right or east-west split in Canadian politics, Power believes the election results point towards an urban-rural divide across the country.

"There are no Tories in the cities, but nothing else in the rural areas," he said. "That means the rural areas will continue to shout for what they want and the cities will just push back."

Power also held little hope that Prime Minister-elect Stephen Harper will be able to build on his minority when his government eventually falls. "He's not an accommodating guy. The fact is, he's not in an accommodating group. I think he'll make Joe Clark look like a hero."