Green Party Launches Election Campaign

The federal election on October 21 is not that far away and Jeff Wheeldon, Green Party Candidate, held a “meet and greet” in Newcastle tonight.  Jeff and his team have been campaigning in Newcastle and left 1000 pamphlets and invitations to the event at nearby homes.  The Green Party feels that they are on a roll with double the number of MPs (2 up from 1) and polls showing  9.8% support, up from 3.4% in the last election – so confidence is high in making a difference.  Certainly the talk in the room was positive.  The meeting was held in the Newcastle Community Town Hall and because it was a meet and greet spread over more than 2 hours, at any one time there were only a few in attendance.

Green Party Meet and Greet
Green Party Meet and Greet (Jeff at left)

But Jeff had several local volunteers helping and they also helped in door knocking.  They did see evidence of Conservative campaigners but not others although the NDP and PPC do not as yet have candidates.  See the links below for the Cobourg Internet page with information on all candidates – updated as they are announced.

Jeff is a great believer in honesty and transparency.  His campaign brochure finishes with:

For years, our biggest challenge has not been convincing people of the need for our policies or our integrity; it’s been convincing people that we are electable – that a Green vote isn’t a wasted vote.  Now we’re sending the message loud and clear, with victory after victory, that there is a sensible alternative to politics as usual in Canada!

Are you ready to ride the wave?

He also conceded that many voters see the Green party as a single issue party – The Environment – but they have full wide-ranging policies – see the link below.

On a not so upbeat note, Jeff and his team were disappointed that ejected Liberals Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott recently decided to run as Independents and not as Greens as hoped.

In understanding where their vote comes from, Jeff pointed me to an article by CBC’s Eric Greniér that said:

…. any gains made by the Greens would come at the expense of parties across the spectrum. For every 100 votes that flip to the Greens, 36 would come from the Liberals, 28 from the Conservatives, 27 from the New Democrats and 10 from the Bloc Québécois and other parties.

Cobourg News Blog will continue to report on all candidates for the Federal Election – stay tuned.

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Walter Luedtke
5 years ago

Good to see the Greens starting to pound their drums.
The recent elections to the European parliament saw a surge to the Greens from the centre right and left parties.
Young European voters realized that the established parties were not taking climate change seriously, so they voted for the party that does.
The basic flaw in the climate agendas of the established parties is that they are still trying to come up with policies that won’t hurt, that there is still a technological fix just around the corner.
In Canada, climate change is still wayyyy on the back burner, especially for the Conservatives.
So go Greens!
Shake them up!

Klaus Schroeder
Reply to  Walter Luedtke
5 years ago

Last night we watched a documentary on PBS about Rachel Carson of “Silent Spring” fame…seems to me that little has changed on the environmental front since that book was published in ’62.

Dubious
Reply to  Walter Luedtke
5 years ago

How closely aligned are the policies of the European and the Canadian Greens?

Walter Luedtke
Reply to  Dubious
5 years ago

Both Canadian and European Greens are ideological hybrids—rightward-leaning in endorsing free marketplace solutions and tax-shifting from income to fossil fuels, more to the left on social issues.
The biggest obstacle for the Greens’ gaining official party status is our First-Past-The-Post electoral system,
In the recent popular vote polling the Greens are at 10%, This would give them 12 to 16 seats in most European parliaments.

Klaus Schroeder
5 years ago

I’m just wondering if the good folks in Northumberland-Peterborough South are too set in their ways to even consider voting for any party other than the “traditional” ones…if so, pitty!

Dan
Reply to  Klaus Schroeder
5 years ago

An uptick in support for the Green party will most likely have the result of guaranteeing a Conservative win.

Klaus Schroeder
Reply to  Dan
5 years ago

You’re probably right but I have too often voted to keep a candidate out rather than for a candidate whose views are more aligned with mine.

Dan
Reply to  Klaus Schroeder
5 years ago

Which is great, if you’re not one of the people who is hugely negatively impacted by Conservative social and economic policy.

Mrs. Anonymous
Reply to  Klaus Schroeder
5 years ago

I would consider the Green Party but I believe their anti nuclear stance to be impractical at this time in Ontario.