Harper's swing to far right means NDP and Greens should UNITE

New legislation the work of paid lobbyists

As Canadians are clearly about 85% to 90% against the PCs new anti-pot and and anti-privacy bills, these must have been created by influential lobbyists representing the interests of mega corporations.

If ever there were a time for Canada's environmental movement (eg Green Party) and social justice block (NDP) to UNITE into one party for progressive Canadians, THIS is it!!!!!!!

If the New Democratic Party and the Green Party were to merge into the Green Democratic Party of Canada, it is suggested that the new entity would sweep Quebec, BC and the GTA, and likely earn a majority government. Discuss among yourselves, and in the Comments section below.

Occupy Canada: Q&A for NDP, Green Party

With Occupy Canada showing the way to Unity, here are questions that NDP and Green Party of Canada members may desire to ask themselves:

Do you believe that a merger of the NDP and the Green Party in Canada makes sense ideologically and politically?

Do you feel that a unified party could win the next federal election in Canada?

What do you think are the major obstacles to a union of Canada's two progressive parties?

Do you think a merger could be completed within the next four years (eg before next federal election)?

Is there a specific policy of the “other” progressive party that you disagree with and believe needs to be altered?

What do you believe are the keys to Canada's success as a livable nation?

What do you believe is Canada's greatest strength?

Do you believe in traditional parliamentary representation (first past the post...) or do you think Canada may benefit from some form of proportional representation?

How do you view Canada's relationship with the USA?

Would you consider transforming Canada into a bilingual, secular democratic republic, or would you prefer to retain the Monarchy?

What do you feel is the key factor promoting Canadian unity?

Occupy Together movement points way to NDP / Greens merger

Canadian progressives divided again

When the right wing in Canada was split into a Reform camp and a PC core, the Western upstarts split the reactionary vote and allowed Jean Chretien a majority government. The combining of the two entities was the first step in a long path that has led to Stephen Harper's new majority government. Though he was helped by the collapse of Liberal party leadership (neither Dion nor Ignatieff was electable as PM), the split of the progressive vote (NDP, Green Party of Canada) was also a factor in the PC majority. Now it is time for the left of center parties to unite!

In its thirty year existence, the CCF's membership ranged from 20,000 up to 40,000 except for a brief spurt to 90,000 in 1944, the height of the Second World War, and was generally under 30,000 after that. Tommy Douglas got us going, and Ed Broadbent and Pierre Trudeau got the people a new constitution and an amazing Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a document admired around the world and an example of a 21st Century style document appearing in the late 20th Century. Trudeau was a European social democrat in French Canadian, rather Liberal attire ...

When the CCF joined with the Canadian Labour Congress to form the New Democratic Party of Canada in 1961, it was the work of many citizens over three decades that allowed us to unite in the form of the NDP.

So let's say J.S. Woodsworth, M.J. Coldwell, Tommy Douglas, David Lewis, Ed Broadbent, and Jack Layton are Canadians in a tradition that would support the Occupy Together folks, and unions today are able to unite in a bigger voice through this vehicle.

People may ridicule the Occupy Together movement and United for #globalchange as a ragtag group of disgruntled youth and old hippie wanna-be's, but our urban occupations are part of activities going on in over 900 cities in more than eighty countries. I would also like to add that there are already more than thirty thousand of us in Canada, and if we can unite the NDP and the Green Party, then we'll be about two million strong, and getting more focused by the day.

Time for Layton and May to have a chat

NDP and Greens see Justin Trudeau on horizon

With the son of Pierre Elliott Trudeau set to lead the federal Liberal Party of Canada out of electoral wilderness, there will no longer be a Dion or Ignatieff to kick around. As a way of consolidating momentum and ensuring that there is plenty of time for a fair and equitable union of the New Democratic Party of Canada and the Green Party of Canada (creating the Green Democratic Party of Canada), followed by an equal or greater amount of time to prepare for an election and ascension to a position of governance, it would be ideal if merger talks could begin this summer, at the national and provincial levels.

If you like losing, consider yourself nothing more than a gadfly in the political process, and enjoy being governed by Conservatives, please ignore the wisdom in this post.

NDP riding discontent wave, like Bob Rae did in 1990

Rising fuel and food prices pave way for major NDP gains

For those Ontario voters who have been around for a few decades, this federal election in Canada has a clear sense of deja vu to it. Back in 1990, nobody thought Bob Rae and the NDP were real contenders in Ontario, however after David Peterson called an unwanted snap election, the NDPers managed to ride a wave of social dissatisfaction with the powers-that-be all the way to victory, capturing 38% of the popular vote and a majority government of 74 seats.

They said it couldn't be done, Jack, yet the NDP did it, in Canada's most populous province. If Layton and the NDP can get further traction in Ontario and BC, combined with the massive Quebec surge, then Canada's New Democratic Party will surprise more than a few people this Monday, and Canadians may wake up Tuesday to the sounds of "New Canadian Prime Minister Jack Layton says ..."

Now that would be cool!

Greens in Canada; NOW is the time for strategic voting

ALL aboard the NDP Express

The surge in popularity of Jack Layton and the NDP party in Quebec and across Canada is a sign of hope in a beleaguered nation. Certainly we don't have troubles on the scale of our American friends and countries far worse off than us, however the "relative strength" excuse masks real pain and suffering in Canada and shortchanges the potential of the nation with the greatest per capita wealth of any country on Earth.

You don't agree that Canada is wealthiest, overall? I'm not just talking about money, but everything that is important to humanity. Starting with material wealth and moving further into complex areas of freedoms and rights, what other nation can match Canada's net total for:

- land per capita
- energy resources per capita
- gold per capita
- wood products per capita
- autos / roads / bridges per capita
- telephones per capita
- computers per capita
- televisions per capita
- doctors / hospitals per capita
- food production per capita
- schools per capita
- fresh air per capita
- free press per capita
- freedom of religion per capita
- rule of law / equality before the law, per capita

Our rights and freedoms stretch from sea to shining sea, and our deep, profound responsibilities wrap themselves completely around the globe, encircling this spinning ball of blue, green and brown fun with hope and inspiration, a yearning for what could be, if only there were an opportunity.

Greens in Canada must examine their local race closely, and if the NDP has a shot and the Greens don't, this will be the election to partner with our Quebecois friends and vote for change. It is a FACT that the NDP has greener policies than the Conservatives or Liberals, by a wide margin, so voting NDP is not choosing a lesser evil, but rather a greater good.

If your Green candidate has any chance of being elected, by all means stay on board, however if that is not the case, then voting NDP still provides a vote for for social change, with the bonus kicker that this time, in the revolutionary year of 2011, Canadian progressives may play a significant role in governing the nation for the next few years, or more.

We'll be fully investigating the benefits of a merger of the NDP and the Green Party after the election, yet for now our best option is to roll with the train that is leaving the station.

All aboard!