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Unite the NDP and Green Parties?

[Worth an honest discussion – krystal]

Open Letter to the Green Party & the NDP

Greetings,

This message is going out to all Canadians organizing for a more equal and sustainable society. This message is going out to all members of the Green Party of Canada and the New Democratic Party.

At its current momentum, this election battle is shaping up to be very similar to the previous one of 2008, and barring some major miracle or disaster, we can expect similar results, and a similarly irresponsible parliament that will continue to trample on everything that matters to us as human beings, while members of the GREENDP continue to argue with each other, ineffectively, on the sidelines of power.

With between 150,000-300,000 Canadians living on our cold streets, our natural lifeblood being chain-sawed, contaminated, and dangerously overheating, and our bodies being poisoned with industrial pollutants, pesticides, and consumer products that Health Canada has been entirely incompetent or unwilling to protect us from, I think it is fair to say that on multiple fronts, we are living in a state of silent emergency in Canada.

We are living in a situation that demands emergency and rapid action to alleviate homelessness, protect our living wilderness, and end the human health crisis and growing cancer, reproductive disorder, and birth defect rates that are being caused by the indiscriminate releasing of toxins into our environment and bodies.

None of this will happen as long as progressives in Canada remain divided between two parties (along with Liberal voters who agree with us, but don’t believe we have a chance of winning in our present disunity). I am aware there is disagreement on some issues, as well as personal feuding between the members of our parties who are so used to fighting each other for the same votes of conscious, good-hearted Canadians, instead of fighting for the well-being of our people, and the earth, waters, and air that sustains us.

Before going any further, I’d like to share with you a multimedia campaign that has just been launched to raise awareness and inspire action on these issues, as well as support for the two parties that are already standing up for what matters:

“CANDIAN REVOLUTION”

I wrote that song and created the video to reach Canadians who are unconscious, or apathetic on these issues, as well as the following comedy video, designed to get Canadian progressives to rethink our current fracturing between two parties:

“GREENDP: Canadians for a UNITED PARTY”

I understand that the issues presented here in a very simple way are indeed very complex, and demand serious consideration in order to decide upon solutions. What GREENDP party members need to understand is that at the present moment, whatever solutions you are proposing (and arguing over their finer details) will never be implemented in a meaningful way in the near future, and either the polar ice caps will fully melt, or hell will freeze over before you can get into a position of power (i.e. form a government) to actually get to work dealing with these monumental crises.

The NDP finds its support once again stagnating, despite the fact that polls show it has the most respected politician in Canada as its leader, and it seems unlikely anything is going to seriously change that level of support in time for the rush to the ballot box. The Green Party finds itself still shut out of parliament entirely due to our absurd voting system, and its support paralyzed by the fact that the majority of Canadians still see Greens as a one-issue, not-to-be-taken-seriously political party, and this situation will remain, so long as you are called ‘Green.’ Unless of course total planetary ecological collapse happens in the near future (it is indeed happening) and at some point people belatedly all become active environmentalists.

But I think we’d all like to ensure that that scenario does not happen, and that Canada plays a vital role in leading the world in both economic sustainability, and social equality, and the only way this breakthrough will happen is if we break out of the present moulds of our old political identities and come together to deal with this life and death struggle, instead of pretending like its all a political game, and all we have to lose is an election.

Whatever minor policy disagreements you have, what we indisputably have in common is a desire to eliminate poverty in Canada, and live in a more fair and just society, a desire to end the ravaging and contamination of our wilderness, and a desire to live in healthy communities, safe from the pollutants and carcinogens regularly being pumped into our air, seeping into our groundwater, and being sprayed all over our food. Furthermore, with these issues almost completely absent from the mainstream debate, the newly amplified voice of a United Party will have the necessary volume to reach Canadians, all of whom share these desires and concerns, and would certainly be willing to vote for well thought out solutions.

A critical majority of Canadians, however, don’t believe the NDP or the Green Party has the ability to win an election, even if they agree with your platforms, and hence we are once again condemned to the curse of strategic voting, in a system of such disproportionate representation that millions of Canadians don’t even bother to vote! All of this will change overnight if and when a United Party is formed from the GREENDP. The only question is how much longer are you going to procrastinate and bicker with each other, how many more people have to freeze to death on our streets, how many more thousands of people have to be diagnosed with cancer every day, how much more of the Arctic Ocean’s ice cover has to disappear, how many more species will have to go extinct or have our populations endangered before you do what needs to be done?

I am aware that with an election only weeks away, many people consider it too late to complete an official merger, and will postpone consideration of this idea until after we have been once again defeated by the corporate parties of Canada, and condemned to several more years of the unbearable status quo. I disagree.

What is fully possible and realistic today, barring a technical merger, is an official alliance between the Green Party and the NDP, that has the potential to radically alter the face of politics in Canada, and drastically change our country for the better. With an official, and public announcement from candidates, as well as party leaders that the NDP and Green Party are considering an official merger, an opportunity emerges for our strongest candidates across the country to actually win ridings that are currently being written off, or desperately and closely fought over.

Although I personally am in no position to propose which ridings can more realistically be won by candidates from either party, I think it is blatantly obvious to everyone that there are many areas where without any increased support from undecided voters, strategic voters, or supporters of either corporate party or the Bloc, a single candidate representing both the Green Party and NDP would already be in a position to represent that riding come May 2nd.

And once it becomes nationally known that the GREENDP is working together, and planning to unite officially, and completely sweep the upcoming round of provincial elections, I believe you will see a newfound excitement and enthusiasm among Canadians for your ideas, and the possibilities from that point on can only grow. If you have the slightest doubt as to what the potential benefits of a political merger can be, simply look at who’s running our country right now.

What could very realistically happen, is that if the NDP backs up Green candidates in their most popular ridings, and the Green Party campaigns for the NDP in their most embattled ridings, is that we could for the first time see a progressive bloc in parliament strong enough to be the decisive member in a coalition government, or form an official opposition, strong enough to prevent the worst abuses from continuing, and powerful enough to pass legislation in the most critical areas.

But I don’t think we should dream so small. The Green Party should give up its dreams of winning a single seat. The NDP needs to stop being comfortable as an official party in parliament, with all the perks that provides, while not actually achieving the things it claims to be working for. There is only one way to make that happen, and that is to form a government. And there is only one way to make that happen, and that is to work together, act in a mature and rational way to resolve or accept our differences, and leave it to academics to debate academic and finer policy matters, (in prelude to those policies actually being implemented by a GREENDP government,) rather than having those matters form the basis of a deadly irresponsible political estrangement.

Its time to start thinking about winning, its time to stop thinking about damage control and start thinking about what kind of policies Minister of the Environment Elizabeth May, and Prime Minister Jack Layton will be enacting in our next parliament. Its time to unite!

In solidarity and respect,

Gabriel Nicolau/Gaiaisi

Canadians For A United Party

P.S. To all riding associations that are receiving this message, please share this with all members of your party, with all respect to what the personal views of the person checking the riding association’s email may be, I believe everyone in the party should have the ability to consider these ideas. A political party is a democracy within a democracy, so it is not up to party central, but to the people who form the backbone of progressive politics in Canada to talk about and come to a consensus on this extremely critical matter. Time is running out, so let’s act quickly, let’s start meeting our orange and green friends, let’s write to the party leadership to demand cooperation and an active alliance between the parties, and if you’d like to express your desire and “vote for unification” please join the following Facebook group to let the world know we will no longer be divided, and we’re heading to Ottawa with a team strong enough to make a real difference!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=112428765465230&v

Feel free to discuss your thoughts on the contents of this letter, as well as the substance of GREENDP cooperation in general, on our ‘Discussions’ page.

Krystalline Kraus

krystalline kraus is an intrepid explorer and reporter from Toronto, Canada. A veteran activist and journalist for rabble.ca, she needs no aviator goggles, gas mask or red cape but proceeds fearlessly...