There is a Facebook group called "Help the Central Nova Liberals get rid of Peter MacKay." In the wake of the news that Stephane Dion wants the Green Party to get rid of Conservative MP Peter MacKay (or perhaps just the NDP), and to support that plan, no Liberal candidate is going to run in this riding, the message board in this group has taken on a definitely funereal tone.
Jason Cherniak, blogger and president of the Richmond Hill Riding Association (presumably not up for sale to the Green Party), has posted a message to cheer up the troops in Nova Scotia:
Jason Cherniak (Toronto, ON) wrote
at 7:00pm on April 13th, 2007Rob, I can understand how upset you and others in NS are. As bad as it may be, though, this is good for the party. We now have 10% of the potential national vote open to the Liberal Party.
OK, according to Stephane Dion, he has the utmost respect for Elizabeth May, and that this isn't about adversarial politics, but that the reason for this unprecedented move was to save the planet:
Mr. Dion explained that he and Ms. May felt a responsibility to put aside partisan differences to ensure that more MPs are elected to Parliament who recognize the serious threat of climate change and who are willing to work together to lessen it.
"We have agreed that the country needs a strong signal that puts progress ahead of partisanship," he said. "To achieve Kyoto, Canada needs MPs and a government that actually understand the threat of climate change and the need for urgent action. This reality has impelled us to seek limited cooperation.
"We recognize that a government in which Stephane Dion served as Prime Minister could work well with a Green Caucus of MPs, led by Elizabeth May, committed to action on climate change."
Mr. Dion also said that today's announcement is a clear sign that he and Ms. May are committed to doing politics differently.
"We admit we are different from most adversarial, political leaders. We respect each other. We will always put the country and the planet first."
But according to Jason Cherniak, who was Stephane Dion's Blog Chairman during the leadership campaign, the benefit of this move is to allow the Liberals to poach the votes that go to the Green Party because of the endorsement promised by Elizabeth May. The endorsement is the price she has to pay for the Central Nova deal. I mean, where are these 10% of the votes going to come from? Who listens to the opinion of Green Party leader Elizabeth May on the question of where to cast their votes other than Green Party supporters?
Are the Liberals planning to tell Green Party supporters across the country that their leader wants them to vote Liberals, and that Elizabeth May agrees that a Green vote is a wasted vote, except in Central Nova? Some observers have speculated that this will be the case, but thanks to Jason, we now know that this is exactly what the Liberals are planning to do.
Jason figures the deal will result in the Green Party vote shifting dramatically over to the Liberals. Is that what Elizabeth May thinks too? Does she want this to happen? Do the Green Party candidates who are hoping for a breakthrough in this election know that the deal makes them all into sacrificial lambs? Do they know that Elizabeth May wants them to fail, because her obligation under this deal is to deliver to the Liberal Party the votes that would have otherwise gone to the Green Party candidates?
I wonder how this would make the average Green Party supporter feel.
But more important than all that, does the Liberal Party know Jason Cherniak has let the cat out of the bag?
Assuming Jason even knows what he's talking about, and if you consider him to be a credible source. If not, then his comments don't amount to much.
