I suppose the Green Party, with its dedication to the environment, has a soft spot for windmills. That’s the only way I can explain why Elizabeth May has decided to run in the B.C. riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands in the upcoming federal election.
Ms. May received a boost in the 2008 election when then-Liberal leader Stephane Dion agreed not to run a candidate in the same riding. Of course, this wasn’t must of a sacrifice for the Liberals since Elizabeth May decided to run in Central Nova – the riding held by Peter McKay and a Conservative party stronghold. It wasn’t much of a surprise, then, that she lost by some 6,000 votes.
At first blush it would appear like an exercise of pure ego that Ms. May would choose to run in a riding that consistently votes Conservative, that was held by a Conservative MP and cabinet minister.
And it seems Ms. May hasn’t learned.
Saanich-Gulf Islands is currently held by Conservative minister of state for sport Gary Lunn. In the last federal election Mr. Lunn received just over 21,000 more votes than the Green Party candidate. Ms. May would have to pick up over four times as many votes as 2008 candidate Andrew Lewis to win the riding.
It seems odd that the leader of a “federal party” – and I use the term loosely since they have never actually won a riding – would run in an unwinnable riding instead of choosing a relatively “safe” riding. It would certainly seem foolish if Stephen Harper ran in the Liberal strongholds of Toronto or Montreal, if Michael Ignatieff ran anywhere west of Ontario. How well would Gilles Duceppe do in Newfoundland?
Of course, I’m working from the assumption Ms. May actually has a chance of being elected.
But does she?
In the 2008 election the Green Party won 6.8% of the national vote – that’s even less than the 10% garnered by the Bloc, and they only ran in Quebec.
Realistically, Elizabeth May is unlikely to win in any riding.
And if that is the case, why not run in an unwinnable riding? Certainly, in the last election it allowed Ms. May to claim she “fought the good fight”. After all, who can blame her for losing against an incumbent MP and Government Minister? And if you can’t blame her, you can’t replace her.
It’s a cushy gig after all.
And then there’s also the temporary ego boost of taking on “the big guys” which must make the otherwise dull existence in the foothills of parliament partially bearable for a party in waiting like the Greens.
Indeed, the only press coverage Elizabeth May managed to get was during the election. Granted, much of that was questioning why she would run in Central Nova…
In any case, it looks like this election will be just as bumpy. If anything, it will be much worse.
The Liberals are holding a nomination for the riding, as are the NDP. This means Ms. May won’t be getting a free ride from Michael Ignatieff and the Liberals this time around.
She’s not even getting a free ride from her own party from the looks of it. Stuart Hertzog, an environmental and social justice activist and website publisher from Victoria, B.C., will contest the nomination.
But that’s not all. According to the Toronto Star, Mr. Hertzog…
…has also filed a complaint with Elections Canada accusing the Greens of pouring central money into the local riding association to support the May campaign and take away his fair chance at a fight.
“I don’t believe I can compete on a level playing field,” Hertzog said in an interview last week.
He originally decided to put his name forward in the Vancouver Island constituency to protest against what he described as an anti-democratic shift in the party from the grassroots to the leader and executive, but May said her willingness to fight him proves him wrong.
Now, in a complaint Hertzog said he filed Thursday, he alleges the party’s federal council illegally transferred $62,000 from a special fund it set up to get May elected — after it decided this spring that winning a seat for the leader would be the priority in the next campaign — to the electoral district association, and that it is being used to finance the nomination campaign.
So, Elizabeth May will go into this election with no free ride from the Liberals, a contested nomination, facing a complaint to Elections Canada, and in a riding that has elected Conservative Gary Lunn in the last 5 elections.
Quixote would be proud.
- Rafael.
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