Greens hold own election debate

Perhaps a debate of just minority candidates should be held. There are only 12 parties in the election so at most there would be only nine participants. Probably not all would show. I recall some time ago that there was a similar debate for minor federal parties. I thought it was far superior to the big market debate among major parties. The participants of course were not as smooth but they spoke their mind and debate was lively. I recall being shocked by fact that the woman from the Christian Heritage Party seemed to agree on occasion with and looked kindly upon her rival male spokesperson for the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist)!

Greens hold own election debate
Supporters, party members gather to hear leader speak at Toronto hotel

Neco Cockburn
The Ottawa Citizen


Friday, September 21, 2007


TORONTO - The Greens held their own version of the debate last night. Shut out of the televised proceedings, the party invited voters to a downtown hotel where party leader Frank de Jong answered questions in a party-like setting.

Voters "are going to have to vote sight unseen in many cases because this electoral system and consortium is denying them the opportunity to hear what the Green party's all about," Mr. de Jong said in an interview shortly before he took the podium at the Pantages Hotel and Spa.

The mood was festive among the hundred or so supporters and party members in attendance as Mr. de Jong and others cited recent polling that showed the party with as much as 12 per cent of voter support.

"We have every right (to participate in the debate) -- the public wants us there. It's not self-serving," Mr. de Jong said.

The plan had been for the leader to answer questions in real-time by turning down the volume on a simulcast of the leaders' debate, but technical problems caused a more traditional event in which Mr. de Jong answered questions from the crowd and former federal Green leader Jim Harris relayed televised debate topics.

Apart from voicing the party's strong environmental stance and economic plans to shift taxes from jobs and businesses to resource use related to water, energy and aggregates, Mr. de Jong had the following responses to some of the debate questions.

On poverty: Mr. de Jong said the party would address the issue in a number of ways, including supported housing for street people, and raising the minimum wage to $10.25 "to make the working poor above the poverty level." His government would also establish a fund to "make sure we could invest in co-ops, in co-housing, in sweat equity and in other housing methods so that everyone in Ontario would have a safe place to live that they would eventually own."

On crime: "We are calling for a ban on handguns in Ontario, in Canada. Handguns serve no function whatsoever except for shooting other human beings," Mr. de Jong said, also calling for government to ensure that young people are engaged in society.

On post-secondary tuition: "We view tuition as a tax on education and the Green party says 'tax bads, not goods,' so why are we taxing education?" Mr. de Jong said the party would use a European-type model that would hold tuition at $3,000 per year for university students and $700 for college students.

On new nuclear power plants: "Absolutely not," he said to applause. "It is immoral to leave future generations with nuclear waste that they have to babysit for hundreds of thousands of years."

Mr. de Jong also said his party would stop funding all religious education, including the current Catholic system, calling Conservative leader John Tory's plan to extend funding to all faith-based schools segregationist.

The Green party, which has no seats in the provincial legislature, has argued that it should be included in televised election debates because of its growing popularity and full roster of candidates. In the lead-up to yesterday's debate, the party set up an online petition and cited debates in other provinces that saw Green party leaders included.

Last night, supporters voiced frustration that Mr. de Jong was not allowed to participate. Some held signs reading "let Frank in."

"To exclude Frank is a travesty" when the party is fielding a full slate of candidates and support across the province, said Gary Magwood, a campaign manager for a Green party candidate.

Barry Kay, a political scientist at Wilfrid Laurier University, said in an interview yesterday that he expects the party will eventually be included in future debates if it continues to grow and wins seats in the legislature, but added that "there isn't a clean, universal answer to the question about at what point should parties be (let) in."

Mr. de Jong is scheduled to make stops in the Ottawa area today.

© The Ottawa Citizen 2007