Canadian Greens Get First MP

[webfarmer]

More good news for the Canadian Greens. This iGoogle RSS feed business is pretty cool for keeping up to speed on things.

Elizabeth May Welcomes Blair Wilson as First Green Party MP - Greenparty.ca - 30 Aug 08

"Green Party leader Elizabeth May is welcoming MP Blair Wilson to the Green Party as the first Green Member of Parliament in Canada. Mr. Wilson, MP for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, will serve in the Green Party Shadow Cabinet."

Comments

[markmc03.livejournal.com]

Don't want to rain on your parade but Wilson is running in a very staid and very rich community. I'm not sure they will be convinced to support a Green Party candidate even if he is the encumbent. Wilson started out as a Liberal but questions about his campaign financing (he was ultimately cleared) forced him out of the Liberal fold (because he was an embarrassment to the party apparently.) Good on him if he can, but the odds are long.

[webfarmer.livejournal.com]

Not to worry, Mark. I'm not an excitable boy when it comes to Green politics these days. It's just something I follow out of habit from being involved all the way back to what I'd call the proto-Green days back in Vermont in the early 1980s.

I understand that Wilson was an independent of some sort before becoming a Green. Evidently he was able to beat off the other candidates without any party affiliation so I guess we'll see if the Green handle adds to his popularity or knocks it down a peg.

Rich people need representation too! Actually they seem to be the only people getting much in the way of a democratic response according to a panel of academics I watched the other day on C-SPAN.

[markmc03.livejournal.com]

I should correct the impression I may have given. Wilson was elected while running under the Liberal banner. His campaign finance problems arose after his election, as a consequence of which he went independent before more recently going Green. We shall see how he does if the other parties run their own candidates - which they will undoubtedly do, especially the Conservatives. Rich tend to vote for rich.

[webfarmer.livejournal.com]

I'm wondering if he doesn't have a bit of the Cynthia McKinney syndrome. Exiled from a mainstream party, they head towards a third party with the hope of some shelter and support.

If history is any example, it probably won't be very pretty. Then again, who knows if you have a quirky voting base and the right curious mix of candidates (like when Minnesota elected Ventura).