With incredible 2010 victories for the Green Party in the UK and in Australia, and an early breakthrough in 2011 in Germany on the heels of Japan’s Fukushima disaster, the Global Greens seem poised to break through the corporate political chatter.
In Canada, the Green Party received just under 1 million votes in the 2008 federal elections, qualifying it for nearly $2 million/year in public financing. That was because of the inclusion of Green Party leader Elizabeth May in the debates. This time around, the political class has successfully excluded her from the debates, despite an ever-strengthening party with a Green Party candidate for Member of Parliament in every single electoral district (“riding”). And despite the citizens of Canada paying $2 million a year to the Greens in public financing.
Remarkably, Canada’s public television didn’t go along, and invited Elizabeth May to their debate. All the other candidates refused to participate. The 30-minute “debate” can be viewed in 3 chunks (linked below), and I can only imagine this shameful exclusion will help the Greens in Canada break through more impressively than ever before:
Oh Canada!
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there are some Green parties that are more corporate-friendly than others. So it’s good to see Greens winning, but that doesn’t mean exactly the same thing in every country.