The Greens Just Found A MP…Now Can They Actually Elect One?

Political posturing, but very clever on the part of Liz May! That is the best way to describe Blair Wilson (Ind->Green, West Vancouver – Sunshine Coast)’s decision to join the Green Party as it’s first Canadian elected representative on the long-weekend before an all-but-confirmed election call! I say that Wilson is an elected representative, but let’s make no bones about this one: the Greens have clearly still been unable to elect anyone to a position much higher than City dog-catcher (a handful of apolitical city councilors have declared their Green preference).

The move is equally brilliant on the part of Green leader May, since it allows her to beef up her case for getting into the expected leaders’ debate that will take place in about a month’s time if the election rumours come to full fruition. She will likely argue that a lone MP, Deborah Grey, was able to propel her close friend and leader, Preston Manning, into the 1993 election debate which allowed their Reform Party to become tied with the Bloc for the second-largest caucus prize after that election. Greens will also trump up the claims that they have consistently polled around where the federal MP was before Jack Layton came on the scene, and that they are on par, if not above the third place Bloc Quebecois in the weekly polls we’re exposed to. If I were May, I would have done no different in courting Wilson — her persistence in turning to every disgruntled Independent this session, from Garth Turner, to Bill Casey, and now Blair Wilson, has finally paid off!

However, before we all run off to give May her much-coveted TV time, we need to put this in historical context, which will ultimately stave off the Green advance onto the small screen. First, when it comes to the Reform example, we have to remember that Deborah Grey wasn’t just elected, but was elected under the Reform banner in a 1989 by-election. Additionally, the party elected a Senator that then-PM Brian Mulroney appointed to the Senate and they were definately going to make an impact on the outcome of the election (this last qualification is the one that the media cites when determining which parties get into the debate). If the Greens want to argue for their place in the debate, they should ignore Reform and turn to the Bloc instead: the Bloc also was allowed into the TV debates in 1993 for the first time, but they also had never elected anyone, including the dog catcher! The Bloc had two MPs, including a former cabinet minister who served in that role during the preceding Parliament. On a more realistic note, many Canadian’s outside of Quebec express dismay that the Bloc is still allowed into the English debates since all of its candidates run in Canada’s exclusively French province. To give credit where due though, at least the Bloc is able to elect a sizable caucus each time, and continue to demonstrate that they play a significant (if not destructive) role in the course of our country. May cannot honestly argue the same. Finally, we should look at one more party to put this all into context. From the dawn of TV debates, right up to 1980, a third party had consistently elected MPs in the general elections of that era, made an impact on the elections and Parliaments they participated in (including one instance where they killed the career of a Prime Minister) and yet, they never were invited into the televised debates. The party, of course, was the Social Credit Party and while they saw consistently declining support since their heydays in the 960s, they made an impact on the Canadian landscape right up to last time they were elected: Joe Clark’s minority Parliament of 1979-80.

So, in context, the Greens still have a long way to go before they can argue that they have a right to be on the screen when Canadians tune in to decide who they’ll be voting for this fall. Incidentally, the move by Wilson might just give Foreign Affairs Minister and fellow turncoat David Emerson (Con, Vancouver Kingsway) an opportunity to claim a seat in this upcoming election after all. Wilson’s riding was being floated around already as a place where Emerson could run and have a chance of not being forcefully returned to the private sector; if he and the current incumbent were both party floppers, it might soften the backlash he is likely to receive after his infamous team-trading a week after the last election. Still, if the Conservatives want to play it safe, Wilson’s decision today will almost certainly allow the Tories to retake the west Vancouver riding if they just run someone who is uncontroversial; the Liberals, barely able to win last time, will be too focused on defeating the newly-empowered Green machine in order to take the Tories on directly. As for the Greens, they will likely lose Wilson as quickly as they gained him — but as for the larger goal of actually electing a Green to Ottawa, he will serve as a potent boost in the arm!

Update:Mike (see comments) notes that the Socreds did get into the 1968 debate (an interesting affair in it’s own right, given that it showed Tommy Douglas do a pretty passionate piece against allowing homosexual marriage). However, it would still be hard for the Greens to argue that having a seat in Parliament, even if the seat was gained in an election under a Green banner, automatically entitles you to be in the debate as the Socreds didn’t get this privilege in other elections. Before we tackle that ball of wax though, let’s see them get a Green elected!