greenpolitics.ca

Country Report — UK Part 2

Prime minister Gordon Brown, who recently took over leadership of Tony Blair’s New Labour government, is now driving through a decidedly mixed industrial agenda. Brown’s agenda gives us a clue as to where ‘middle-of-the-road’ state policy might be heading. Is the UK’s industrial strategy the shape of things to come in other countries?

Country Report — UK Part 1

Despite increasing rhetoric about the necessity for ‘going green’ to combat climate change, anti-environmental thinking and prosperity have prevented the UK Green Party from capitalising on the precipitous decline in support for New Labour under the leadership of prime minister Gordon Brown, writes UK correspondent Sandy Irvine.

Conventional party politics offers limited opportunity to achieve the depth of cultural change necessary to safeguard life on this planet. Although there is a need for political activism, even Green political parties are neither far-sighted nor bold enough to put forward a clear vision of an eco-centric society. So I’m announcing a change of focus for this site.

Seeking to end two decades on the fringes of politics, BC Greens took their first tentative steps on the slippery slope to power. Whether it leads towards the Green ideals of world peace, ecological and social justice, and grassroots democracy depends on whether the party sells its soul in its quest for influence.

After a hotly-contested race, the BC Green Party chose Esquimalt councillor Jane Sterk as their new Leader. She’s going to have to use all her impressive political and personal skills to repair the damage of the previous eleven months and build the party into a vote-getting machine for 2009.

BC premier Gordon Campbell’s announcement of his intent to reduce provincial greenhouse gas emissions by 33% by 2020 has serious political implications for the BC Green party. It will take more than puppy-dog thinking to convince voters to give up their allegiance to the mainstream options.

JACK ETKIN WRITES: In my opinion, homelessness is deliberate, not on the part of the homeless but on the part of the people who are running this country. $1 billion per year in five years would create 30,000 units of housing, which could house homeless people all across Canada and probably reduce rents overall.

This week many members received an email exhorting them to become involved in Fair Voting BC, a BC non-profit formed to promote proportional representation in this province. This invasion of party members’ privacy is a betrayal of trust and should never have been allowed.

The BC Green party’s attempt at broadcasting its final leadership debate live over the Internet quickly turned into a technical bust. But every cloud has a silver lining: they’re using it as an exercise in damage control. Could this be a sign that the BC Green Party is becoming like all the others?

Since his appointment in April, Christopher Ian Bennett has been acting like a crazy Caribbean pirate, firing off his personal opinions like a loose cannon while steering the party ship onto some very sharp and dangerous political rocks. Unfortunately, he’s been leaving many members behind, and should be stopped.