10.09.2008

Green Party Activist voting NDP

Dauncey wrote the Green Party's climate platform.

A well known environmentalist and respected activist
Guy Dauncey has said he will be voting NDP in his riding and has provided a list of people to vote for on Vancouver Island in order to stop Stephen Harper and the Conservatives. If all the pro environment listed below by Guy are elected it would also see Vancouver Island return all women MP's. That is a significant and achievable goal.

Here is Guy's reasoning and list ...

Dear Friends,

Voting on Vancouver Island

I know it hurts to vote against your instinct, to make that all-important democratic tick for a party other than the one you believe in.
Under our antiquated, colonial, discriminatory, stupid, undemocratic, first-past-the-post voting system, however, when we split the progressive vote not two but three ways, every vote for a candidate who has little chance of winning makes Conservatives cheer.

They are laughing all the way to a possible majority government, packed with Conservative MPs many of whom, If the disgraced MP Maxime Bernier is anything to go by, think climate change is a joke, a Rocky Horror Show of doom and gloom dreamed up by us eco-freaks.

I have been a member of the Green Party in Britain and Canada, on and off, for 35 years. I wrote our Canadian Green Party's climate platform, that was awarded the highest rating by the Pembina Institute. And I am urging all people of a progressive hue not to vote Green, but to vote strategically, to put aside party loyalty for greater loyalty to our Planet Earth.

We absolutely must stop the Conservatives from getting back into power. A Liberal/NDP/Green coalition government (hoping Elizabeth May gets elected) would get Canada back on track with committed action on climate change.

In Vancouver Island North, this clearly means voting for Catherine Bell, NDP -

In Nanaimo-Alberni, this clearly means voting for Zeni Maartman, NDP -

In Nanaimo-Cowichan, this clearly means voting for Jean Crowder, NDP -

In Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca, it's a close race between Keith Martin (Liberal) and Jennifer Burgis (NDP)

In Saanich-Gulf Islands, this clearly means voting for Briony Penn, Liberal

In Victoria, it clearly means voting for Denise Savoie, NDP

This is also what 120 of Canada's top climate scientists are urging us to do - vote strategically - see http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/10/07/scientists-environment.html

Just as a comment - if all these candidates won, with Jennifer Burgis in Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca, 100% of Vancouver Island's MPs in Ottawa would be women - which would be amazing.

To all those committed Greens who think this means I am betraying my deepest principles - I apologize. Our undemocratic voting system turns good friends into bickering enemies, which is a drag. I have good green friends who are running for the Green Party, and I'd love to support them - but it just does not make sense.

And yes, we all want to see Proportional Voting in Canada.

We will NEVER get this with a returned Conservative government. But we MAY have a slim to good chance with a new progressive coalition government.

with best wishes,
Guy Dauncey
Victoria

3 comments:

Stephen K said...

This is good to see. I will link to this tomorrow.

susansmith said...

I'm glad to see him favouring Jennifer Burgis in Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca, considering that Martin wants to dump sewage into the ocean.

I also am very sad to see Greens die on their swords in what I can only assume was part of the May-Dion pact. We need proportional representation in our government.

Anonymous said...

Jan, you have no idea what a mess the sewage treatment issue is in Victoria.

We can spend 1.8 million on a treatment plant that doesn't do a thing to remove the chemicals that are the issue, or we can spend the money to update the sewer drain infrastructure, or we can keep dumping far enough out in the ocean that (according to many scientific reports) the sewage doesn't harm anything.

I was at a town hall the other day when the Green candidate practically got a standing ovation when he suggested we treat the sewage as a resource (reclaim waste heat, capture bio-gas, use compost, etc).

Anyway, it's a hot topic with many different opinions that are backed by various different scientists. In other words, a mess.

I'd rather condemn Martin for his stance on privatizing health care or clear dislike of proportional representation than attack him on his position on the sewage issue.