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rfmcdonaldCompleting Torontoist's roundup of the positions of the major political parties on Toronto issues, Patrick Metzger earlier this week took a look at what the Green Party of Ontario would do if it got elected. They might do good things indeed.
Improved transit funding, the abolition of funding for the Catholic education system, innovative social policy proposals, and the like all come up. Metzger's conclusion?
As it happens, though, the Greens haven't won a single seat in the party's history. In the 2011 election in my riding of Davenport, the Green candidate got less than 3% of the vote. I'm sufficiently concerned with the prospect of the Liberals that voting for another party unlikely to elect their candidate just doesn't appeal, no matter how interesting the platform. (The question of whether this platform would be translated into action is a separate issue that, again because of the lack of electoral success, likely wouldn't come into play here.)
There won’t be a Green government, of course—they even acknowledge it in their platform: “In the next session of the legislature, your Green MPPs will demand that government … [followed by a list of demands].” In fact, the Green Party of Ontario (GPO) will be lucky if it manages to send its first MPP to Queen’s Park in the upcoming election.
That said, the province might be lucky if it did. Leader Mike Schreiner and the Greens approach electioneering with a candour that likely comes at least in part from the knowledge they won’t win—they’re free to advocate useful ideas that more electable parties won’t touch.
Improved transit funding, the abolition of funding for the Catholic education system, innovative social policy proposals, and the like all come up. Metzger's conclusion?
Is it time to start taking the Greens seriously? A Green government isn’t coming any time soon, but having a Green MPP or two might help introduce to the mainstream some ideas that are otherwise unlikely to see the light of day.
As it happens, though, the Greens haven't won a single seat in the party's history. In the 2011 election in my riding of Davenport, the Green candidate got less than 3% of the vote. I'm sufficiently concerned with the prospect of the Liberals that voting for another party unlikely to elect their candidate just doesn't appeal, no matter how interesting the platform. (The question of whether this platform would be translated into action is a separate issue that, again because of the lack of electoral success, likely wouldn't come into play here.)
