The two contests for the federal leadership, the NDP -- already started -- and the Liberal -- on hold -- give an opportunity to think political realignment in Canada.
These leadership races could be an opportunity for serious debate about proportional representation, to give every person an equal vote, and climate change, the most urgent issue humankind faces, and one where the majority in Parliament is at odds with the majority of Canadians.
Election 2011: rabble.ca has chosen 10 key ridings across Canada for progressives to watch in the run-up to the May 2 vote, and asked local writers to assess them. The profiles highlight why the riding profiled is important and issues local campaigns are focused upon.
Will Elizabeth May pull off one of the most heartening upsets in the 2011 federal election campaign?
The 56-year-old Green Party leader and candidate for Saanich-Gulf Islands on Vancouver Island has been running against Conservative Gary Lunn, the minister of state for sport (and the 2010 Winter Olympics), an old-school Alliance/Reform Party stalwart with five successful terms of office behind him.
If you want to see another Harper government, then vote Green. A vote for a Green candidate is a wasted chance to vote for a candidate able to defeat a Conservative candidate. If the Green vote goes up, the chances of a Conservative majority increase proportionately.
Alice Funke at Pundit's Guide reports that in the last election the Greens gained at the expense of the Liberals in 102 of 108 Ontario ridings.
Canada's 40th Parliament ends its current session this week. It will resume sitting in February, and after a few weeks, a budget debate is expected to trigger an election show down. Shuffling of voting intentions between Liberal and Conservative has drawn most media interest; especially with the Conservatives back on top. However, going back to the 2008 election, what characterizes Canadian public opinion is how little things have changed. The Liberals and Conservatives share between them something over 65 per cent of voting intentions, while the three other parties share something short of 35 per cent.
Buoyed by a balance-of-power Green Party electoral breakthrough in Australia on Saturday, the Green Party of Canada (GPC) met this weekend in Toronto, for their Biennial General Meeting.
Defusing a potentially explosive resolution about the de-criminalization of polygamous relationships and sweeping aside criticism about declining membership numbers, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May strode confidently into Constitution Hall at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre to deliver her keynote address.
Politically, I'm postmodern. In our democracy, where the medium for electoral engagement is the party system, I'm decidedly non-partisan. Values, principles, people, and opportunities to make a progressive difference are more attractive for this activist. Flexibility and openness are key.
In my present incarnation, I'm Green MP Elizabeth May's press secretary. After returning to Canada from the U.K. and examining the contemporary political landscape, I felt it would be a privilege to support this brilliant, outspoken woman in her efforts to challenge Harper, the Northern Gateway pipeline, and more. Now, I'm on Parliament Hill confronting the daily insults the Conservatives inflict on our society.
In the May 2nd election Elizabeth May became the first Green Party member to be elected to the House of Commons. Murray Dobbin interviewed her for rabble.ca about her experience so far as an MP and how her presence in the House of Commons will change things for the party she leads. The principal interview was conducted before the death of NDP leader Jack Layton and rabble.ca revisited Ms. May in order to ask her a couple of questions reflecting on his passing.
Murray Dobbin: Congratulations, has it sunk in yet or do you feel like an old hand already?
It all comes down to that age-old question: Does the end justify the means?
Right now, many Canadians are torn between their strong desire to nullify Stephen Harper's corrupt, anti-democratic rule -- and their own party loyalty.
But, with polls predicting at least another Harper minority -- given our distorting first-past-the-post system -- more and more are turning to the concept of strategic voting.
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![Karl Nerenberg](http://rabble.ca/sites/rabble/files/imagecache/thumbnail/category_pictures/Karl.jpg "Karl Nerenberg joins rabble to cover news for the rest of us from Parliament Hill. Karl has been a journalist for over 25 years including eight years as the producer of the CBC show The House. He has written scripts for documentary films and long-form television reports for such shows as Le Point and Actuel on Radio Canada television and The Journal on CBC-TV. Karl also founded and, for five years, edited the magazine Federations: What's new in federalism worldwide.
Karl has been awarded a Gemini award, a Best International Documentary Series award (from "la communauté des televisions francophones"), a CBC Radio Award for Best New Series (C'est la vie) among others. As a broadcaster, Mr. Nerenberg produced and directed television series and documentaries in a wide range of genres and on a great variety of subjects -- from civil war in Central America, to the crisis in South Africa's Apartheid system.
Karl works in both English and French, and can be reached at karl@rabble.ca")
2.jpg "David Climenhaga, author of the Alberta Diary blog, is a journalist, author, journalism teacher, poet and trade union communicator who has worked in senior writing and editing positions with the Toronto Globe and Mail and the Calgary Herald. His 1995 book, A Poke in the Public Eye, explores the relationships among Canadian journalists, public relations people and politicians. He left journalism after the strike at the Calgary Herald in 1999 and 2000 to work as Communications Director of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, which with more than 73,000 members is Alberta’s largest union and Canada’s 10th largest. Alberta Diary focuses on Alberta politics and social issues. Contact: albertadiary @ gmail.com")