An Era of Post Partisan Politics?

It’s the first anniversary of the “Red-Green” alliance struck by Liberal leader Stéphane Dion and Green Party leader Elizabeth May. We were quite excited about their announcement because we think it reflects a concern felt by many Canadians of different political stripes: the climate crisis is too important for the parties to waste time on partisan electoral competition. If they are truly committed to confronting the biggest crisis of our time, they should be putting aside differences and focusing on collaboration.



We think the alliance showed true leadership on the part of Mr Dion and Ms May; they’re not being undemocratic, they’re simply acknowledging that we need to pull together on this and work as a team. There is something refreshing about politicians willing to rise above the fray for the good of the country and the planet. We can only hope Mr Layton sees the wisdom in this and also holds his fire in Central Nova. Ms. May is sharp, she’s clearly committed to reducing emissions, and Canada as a whole would be better off with her in government.



It’s hard to believe we have been on the verge of a general election for over a year. If the recent outcome in the Vancouver Quadra by-election is any indication (the Liberals held onto a safe seat by only 150 votes, while the Green Party surged to 14 percent of the vote), the past year has not led the voting public to seriously reflect on the Harper majority that may result from vote splitting on the left. We think it would be a disaster if growing public demand for action on climate change led to a majority government led by the party which is least willing to act on the problem. Vote for Climate is about making sure that doesn’t happen.

Please go to www.voteforclimate.ca to get involved.