Green Party – mackaycartoons

Friday July 16, 2021

July 23, 2021 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday July 16, 2021

Greens adopt a climate of cruelty in self-destructive attack on party leader

It is the sovereign purpose of the Green Party of Canada to save the world from planet-destroying global warming.

June 18, 2021

Its second purpose appears to be to badmouth Israel whenever an opportunity to do so presents itself.

It is really, really difficult to see how the second of these relates to the first. They are wildly dissimilar undertakings. For example, you may read hundreds and hundreds of books and articles about Israel and the Middle East and only rarely, if at all, come upon such phrases as carbon capture, biofuels, green new deal or tips on how to get the most out of your basement heater.

The topics or issues are, if you will forgive the phrase, a world apart, and yet within the Green party, the members’ stand on Israel apparently stimulates a passion surpassing even their horror of the planet’s imminent collapse.

October 7, 2020

Surely, I hear some mumbling, you exaggerate. Not at all. The recently elected leader of the Canadian greens, the accomplished Annamie Paul, has brought upon herself a great green fury. Not from any slackness on the global warming file. On global warming — the evils of oil companies, love of solar panels and giddiness over windmills — she is as green as the next planet saver, a veritable oak in the forest of green politics.

But on the matter of Israel, which as I’ve hinted has to be seen as desperately disconnected from any form of meteorological Armageddon, she had expressed a moderate view. In the most recent breakout of Middle East tension she called for “both sides to cease violence,” the burden of her position being that “Violence and confrontation will not bring resolution, only more suffering.”

That surely is an unexceptional statement. Indeed Ms. Paul’s words are intimately similar to the words and thoughts of the world’s most respected and venerated climate leader, Greta Thunberg. The gallant Ms. Thunberg spoke as the recent conflict raged: “I am not ‘against’ Israel or Palestine. Needless to say I’m against any form of violence or oppression from anyone or any part.”

October 14, 2015

But not on the side of the Canadian Green party, many of whose key figures and executives have been putting Annamie Paul through the political grinder, and being very public about it as well. They have relieved her of her staff. They are threatening an executive vote of non-confidence. Jenica Atwin, the only Green member ever elected in an Eastern climate (New Brunswick), took such offence from Paul’s moderate statement, that she is now gathered into the generous bosom of the Liberal party. Elizabeth May, who was originally a supporter of Ms. Paul, has been most uncharacteristically silent, as the new leader faces deep challenge and — check the Twitter feeds — some very harsh and frequent abuse.

In the most unkindest cut of all, Green party brass have moved to block the funding for their leader’s riding campaign. I have seen party leaders under siege and attack before. And these were real parties, by which I mean they had more than two or three seats in the House of Commons. In other words, the leadership was a real prize. But there is nothing in the memory to match the harshness and political cruelty directed to a leader who took over the position only nine months ago. And certainly nothing to match the grounds on which she is being attacked — the Middle East — which is, from any rational viewpoint, so utterly, almost infinitely unrelated to the one and central issue of every green party in the world: global warming.

September 17, 2007

The full-on public campaign against Annamie Paul coming from her own party’s supporters is as hot and heavy as any they have waged against Fort McMurray and the oilsands. And that’s a measurement that’s hard to meet.

But this little porch of a party that thinks it’s a mansion, is giving what it so likes to call “the old-line parties” a marvellous lesson in how to self-destruct with the most damage to your main issue, and how to drop below even a meagre two seats in Parliament once Prime Minister Justin Trudeau waves the election wand. It is also a first-class illustration of the old maxim, the smaller the prize, the messier the fight to own it. (Rex Murphy – The National Post)

Wednesday October 7, 2020

October 14, 2020 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 7, 2020

‘Highly symbolic’: Canada’s Annamie Paul becomes first Black party leader

October 14, 2015

Annamie Paul, the first Black person to head a mainstream Canadian federal party, said on Monday that her victory was a sign that politics could become more inclusive.

Paul, a 47-year-old Toronto lawyer, beat seven other contenders to win the leadership of the country’s Green party late on Saturday.

“It is highly symbolic and highly important that I sit here today,” she told a news conference in Ottawa.

“What I bring is hope to all the people who have not seen themselves represented in politics to this point, hope it’s possible we can have a more inclusive style of politics.“

Paul is the second person of color to head a federal party in Canada after Jagmeet Singh took over the left-leaning New Democrats in 2017.

The prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has frequently said there is a need to address what he calls systemic racism in Canada.

Paul faces several challenges. The Greens have only three legislators in the 338-seat House of Commons and she herself is not a member of parliament.

February 3, 2017

Paul will contest a special election in the parliamentary constituency of Toronto Centre later this month but that seat is likely to be retained by the ruling Liberals. She came in a distant fourth in a bid for the same seat in a federal election last year.

The Liberals, who have only a minority of seats in the House of Commons and rely on the support of other parties, look set to govern with the New Democrats and therefore do need the backing of the Greens.

Paul said Canada faced two great challenges: the coronavirus pandemic and global warming.

“The climate emergency is and remains the existential crisis of our times and we cannot forget about it because it has not forgotten about us,” she said. (The Guardian)

Wednesday November 6, 2019

November 13, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday November 6, 2019

Elizabeth May calls it quits. Could the Greens do better with someone else?

Over the last decade, Elizabeth May became one of the strongest and most widely known personalities in Canadian politics. Under her leadership, the Green Party of Canada achieved the best results in its 35-year history.

October 14, 2015

Also under May, the Greens peaked at less than seven per cent of the popular vote and three seats in a 338-member House of Commons.

This is where the challenge lies in assessing May’s leadership and legacy.

By any measure, she’s the most successful leader in her party’s history. But that success was limited. And it’s fair to ask whether she and her party should have accomplished much more, particularly in the recent general election.

To May’s credit, her share of the political oxygen around Parliament Hill consistently exceeded her party’s share of popular support.

April 18, 2007

She convinced Stéphane Dion to not run a Liberal candidate against her in 2008 — when she chose to pursue a long-shot campaign against Peter MacKay in the Nova Scotia riding of Central Nova — and then talked her way into the televised leaders debates despite the fact that her party had never won a seat.

After she was elected in 2011 — defeating a Conservative incumbent in Saanich-Gulf Islands in British Columbia — she became a prominent voice calling not only for action on climate change but also for better decorum in the House of Commons and more respect for the sovereign power of Parliament. She was a constant presence in the House and a regular guest at parliamentary committees, where she would turn up bearing amendments she wished to propose.

She took advantage of every opportunity afforded her as a member of Parliament, all while making her case that the institution, its members and political parties needed to change. The Greens, she vowed, would be different — if they could ever elect enough MPs to form a proper caucus.

September 29, 2008

In 2008, her first election as leader, the Greens received 6.8 per cent of the vote, a two-point jump over the previous election result; the party still failed to elect an MP. Three years later, the Greens focused their efforts on getting May into the House. They succeeded, but the party’s national support slipped to 3.9 per cent. In 2015, its share of the popular vote fell again, to 3.5 per cent.

The Greens elected their second MP in May when Paul Manly won a by-election in British Columbia. He and May were then joined in October by Jenica Atwin, who pulled off a surprise victory in Fredericton.

Three MPs is three more than the Greens had before Elizabeth May became leader. But three MPs is also a smaller number of victories than the Greens seemed capable of winning at the outset of this fall’s campaign.

September 18, 2019

In early September, the Greens were polling at 11 per cent and seemed to have a shot at overtaking the New Democrats for third place. The NDP was weaker than it had been in 15 years, and the issue of climate change — the Green Party’s raison d’être — was more salient than it had ever been. It was possible to imagine the Greens winning a dozen or more seats.

In announcing her departure on Monday, May boasted that the Greens received more than a million votes in this year’s election. But the party’s share of the popular vote — 6.5 per cent — was still below the 2008 mark.

She also celebrated the fact that the party had “doubled” its vote in Quebec — which sounds more impressive if you don’t know that means the party went from 2.3 per cent in Quebec in 2015 to 4.5 per cent this fall. (CBC News)

Friday April 19, 2019

May 3, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday April 19, 2019

Historic result for PEI Green Party could mean bigger things coming

For the first time ever, the Green Party has risen to Official Opposition status in a Canadian province.

October 23, 2002

The party, led by Peter Bevan-Baker, won eight seats in Prince Edward Island in a vote that saw the Progressive Conservatives form a minority government under premier-designate Dennis King. The Tory’s won 12 seats.

“It’s a historic night, and a big breakthrough for the PEI Greens,” says Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner, “I think it’s really an indication, the fact increasingly more and more voters want to see a new way of doing politics.”

“I think Greens bring a fresh voice and a new perspective, and really a desire as much as possible to work across party lines to solve some of the big challenges that we face. And do it in a way that puts people first, that puts good policy ahead of party.”

May 31, 2017

He says in the past, people thought success for the Greens were more of “a west coast thing,” alluding to federal leader Elizabeth May, who is MP for a riding in British Columbia, as well as three MLA’s holding seats in the BC legislature.

And then with members holding three seats in New Brunswick’s provincially, some were thinking it was a west and east coast thing.

But with Tuesday’s vote, along with Schreiner’s own successful election bid in Ontario last October, he says we’re seeing a “green wave starting to build across the country.”

Now, what could this mean for future elections?

October 14, 2015

Schreiner says we could see our first indication of it during the fall federal election, and even in the next Ontario election in 2022.

He indicates there were five “high quality” people seeking the Green Party nomination in Guelph last year, along with contested nominations in Waterloo Region.

And he is already fielding calls from people interested in running in the next provincial election. (Source: Kitchener Today)

Wednesday May 31, 2017

May 30, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 31, 2017

B.C. NDP and Greens to release details of their power-sharing deal

B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan held a triumphant meeting of his MLAs at the legislature Tuesday, as his party prepares to overthrow the governing Liberals and take power with the help of the B.C. Greens.

March 11, 1999

Horgan arrived to a standing ovation and a flurry of desk thumping as NDP MLAs and party staff crowded into the Opposition board room at the legislature to hear details of a power-sharing agreement announced Monday with the Greens.

“Wow, what a race, what a contest, what an election campaign, and how excited are we today?” Horgan said to applause.

“We’ll have the opportunity as a caucus of 41 New Democrats to ratify an agreement that will bring stability to the legislature and allow us to focus on the things we campaigned on, allow us to ensure we can make life more affordable for British Columbians, that we can protect the services people care about, and most importantly we can make sure the economy works for everybody.

“That’s what we campaigned upon, that’s what we’re going to deliver. I’m very excited to have you all here, and I’m very excited about the prospect of forming the next government of British Columbia.”

Combined, the NDP and Greens hold 44 seats in the legislature, compared to 43 for the Liberals.

Horgan said the NDP will release a copy of the agreement with the Greens at 2 p.m. Tuesday. He mentioned it will allow an NDP government to improve housing affordability, improve health care, defend the coast from pipelines and improve the education system. (Source: Vancouver Sun)