Canada PoliticsIs the Green Party about to double in size?
Elizabeth May and the Green Party of Canada could soon be getting a much needed boost.
According to the Chronicle Journal, independent MP Bruce Hyer is poised to join a political party, but won't announce which one until December 13.
Sources said Hyer is going to join the Green Party, which only has one member in the House of Commons — British Columbia MP Elizabeth May.
Hyer, a self described biologist/ecologist/environmentalist, left the NDP caucus in April 2012 saying that he refuses to be told how to vote.
In the summer of 2012, he was a keynote speaker at the Green Party policy convention on Vancouver Island.
Here's some of what he had to say:
I will no longer represent any party that "whips" (mandates) voting by their MPs, especially on issues not clearly laid out in agreed-upon written policies or platforms. Which means that none of the three main political parties is currently an option for me.
I truly believe that a Parliament with more Green MP’s will be a better Parliament. We need more Green MP’s desperately.
I have gone over your platform, your Green VISION, with a fine-toothed comb. I found little to disagree with, and much to admire and support.
You have a fantastic platform. You have the best platform!
You have an amazing leader. She is showing how a political leader can put Canada first. Canadians first. The environment first. I am proud to call her a fellow Parliamentarian.
If you're still not convinced of Hyer's green intentions, remember that he — the MP from Thunder Bay Superior North — publicly endorsed Green candidates in both the Victoria and Calgary Centre federal byelections in 2012.
[ Related: Is Elizabeth May’s leadership hurting her party’s future prospects? ]
The doubling of the Green caucus — should it happen — is good timing for Elizabeth May.
After a strong 2011 and 2012 in Parliament, May's momentum has stalled in 2013.
In October the National Post attacked her leadership style.
Ms. May has not held herself to the standard that Canadians should expect from a federal party leader.
Ms. May has, at least twice in the past, tweeted about the purported dangers of Wi-Fi networks — a claim for which there is virtually no credible evidence, and much evidence to the contrary.
Ms. May...spent weeks last year ominously warning Canadians that our government was selling out the country by signing a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement with China. She tweeted out such alarmist statements as “18 days til we lose Canada” and “our survival as a country is at stake.” (Update: We’re still here.)
Abacus Data CEO David Coletto suggested that May and her Greens have some serious issues that they need to address.
"The Green Party leader is having a tough time staying relevant since the main parties have co-opted its agenda. Her actions only make it more difficult for people to take the Green Party seriously," Coletto told Yahoo Canada News in October.
"What does the Green Party stand for? How is it different from the NDP or Liberals? While it's previous leader, Jim Harris, positioned the party as a pro-business environmentally conscious party, May has taken the Greens to the fringe and pushed strange issues. Her actions only contribute to this perception among Canadians."
[ Related: Peter Stoffer, Elizabeth May honoured at Parliamentarians of the Year gala event ]
Despite all that, May does have a lot of things going for her. She's revered by her party members, was recently named 'Hardest Working MP' by her peers and still punches well above her weight in terms of getting media attention.
And if she does indeed get Hyer on her team, she gives the Greens a fresh start heading into 2014 and beyond.
Hyer could just be the best Christmas gift the Greens get all year.
(Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press)
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