Platforms, Part 3: Green Party

The Greens are still not a significant factor nationally, but their numbers are growing, and they are starting to exert an influence on the other national parties. This review will be, perforce, somewhat briefer than for the other platforms. Conveniently, they offer a brief version of their platform.

• "We will protect our children and their grandchildren from being sold out for short-term gains."

Lovely sounding rhetoric, but not particularly useful for an analysis of actual policy proposals.

• "Increase EI Parental Benefits, and make it more affordable for parents to stay at home with their children."

Didn't I just read something in the Conservative platform to encourage the same end result? Just provided through the tax system rather than through EI?

• "Create a health care system that not only treats illness, but prevents it."

Back to point one...sounds good, not specific enough to give any reason for thinking they've got a real policy.

• "We will create a just society by staying focused on the basic rights:"
• "Enact a national nutrition program to ensure everyone can afford to eat healthy food."

To the best of my knowledge, outside the inner cities, there are remarkably few Canadians suffering form malnutrition. Why put together a national program to solve a local problem?

• "Restart a national housing program and focus on cooperative housing."

Because no Canadians can afford to buy houses on the open market, right?

• "Work to make our political system "citizens only" by banning corporate, union and special interest funding."

Hey, isn't this also a plank of the Conservative platform? Either way, I like the idea.

• "We will be a voice for sustainable industries and lifestyles."

Okay, sure.

• "Implement reforms to favor organic, pesticide free, cruelty free agriculture."

Which will take away any worries we may have had about that agricultural surplus. . .

• "Take steady, well planned steps to reduce industrial pollution and toxic emissions."

If done by allowing a free market to develop for both emission trading and for rational, economically viable pollution control, I'm all for it.

• "We will avoid government expansion and top-down solutions."

Which seems to contradict the spirit, if not the letter of a few of the other points in the platform.

• "Create funding networks to fund local organizations, rather than expand government bureaucracy."

Any attempt to restrain the growth of the federal bureaucracy deserves at least some support.

• "Build our voluntary sector — empower communities and strengthen citizenship."

The Greens and the Tories actually seem to agree on the basis of this point: I think they'd both be horrified to find themselves in this position.

• "Implement a fair tax shift and a balanced budget."

Whatever is meant by "a fair tax shift", I would suspect can be freely translated to "soak the rich".

• "Increase taxes on pesticides and fossil fuels, so we can cut income taxes, and create "green collar" jobs."

This bullet point alone would be enough to forfeit the support of most western Canadians, if not all Canadians.

• "Stay focused on the long term sustainability of our health and social programs rather than stealing votes with throw-away promises."

Again, motherhood is good. Agreed.

• "We will stand up for Canada's sovereignty and our uniquely diverse culture. Stay out of "Star Wars" or any other kind of missile defense."

I can agree with protecting Canadian sovereignty, but I think my vision of protection is different from what the Green Party means. Staying out of the missile defence program is a fast way to becoming a non-aligned nation from the US point of view.

• "NAFTA must either be re-written to better protect Canadian industries, resources, and culture, or it must be scrapped."

The whole point of NAFTA, or any other trade-enhancing agreement, is to reduce the overall level of protection in the trading system. This point is really saying "Scrap NAFTA", with no other qualification needed.

• "We will form the most open and democratic government that Canada has ever seen; enact voting reform to replace the "first past the post" system and require all federal departments to open their books four times a year."

The advantage of the "first past the post" system is that it provides a relatively high number of majority governments. Minorities and coaltions are both unstable and (often) irresponsible. We can look at other systems, but we don't want to adopt a system which would result in the government falling more frequently than Canada Day!