Green Party leader Elizabeth May has asked Green supporters to vote Liberal:
With just two days until the federal election, May said in an interview on Sunday "there's no question that there are some ridings where you might say to vote green you ought to vote NDP to stop a Conservative from winning, and in some ridings you might want to vote Liberal to stop a Conservative from winning."
But she said she also "profoundly disagrees" with Liberal Leader Stephane Dion's assertion that Green party voters across the country should switch to the Liberals.
May said she only envisions Green supporters switching their votes in tight races, most of them in Central Canada.
May said she's aware of tough criticism from within her party over her apparent endorsement of strategic voting in some ridings.
On Saturday, the Green candidate in the riding of Simcoe North in Ontario expressed anger over May's statements.
"I think she's muddying the waters," Valerie Powell said. "I think she's the best prime minister, and we have to keep working hard as Greens to make sure we have as many MPs as possible."
Asked if she is muddying the waters, May responded, "It's true I am."
"I love Valerie and I read her full quotes and they weren't harsh or unfair. She's right, life would be simpler if I acted like (NDP Leader) Jack Layton and didn't care if Stephen Harper formed government again.
"Life would be simpler if I were a complete hypocrite like Jack Layton and pretended I cared about the climate when all of his strategy makes his own personal success more important than survival of the climate and decent climate policy.
"I'm just not that person."
I have some opinions of the sort of person Elizabeth May is. I'm sure Green Party supporters and candidates have opinions of the sort of person Elizabeth May is.
The wrinkle in all this, however, is the rumour being reported on Bourque that Elizabeth May stands to gain personally from doing this:
Also heard from was a top Liberal organizer who admittedly worked on the leadership bid of one of Stephane Dion's rivals, in other words someone who has much to gain if Dion and his Green Shift are soundly defeated Tuesday. Yet, this still-very-active politico tells Bourque he fears a secret deal has been cooked between Dion and Elizabeth May (both unabashed disciples of ex-pat Kyoto godfather Maurice Strong, and both currently immersed in a vociferous round of 'doth protest too much' denial about a secret deal) which may explain why she has been meeting with "key Liberal organizers" and is now actively telling Green Party supporters to vote Liberal, of all things.
This, according to our Liberal insider, in exchange for a possible Senate seat and a place as Environment Minister in a Dion-led government.
I would be most interested in what Elections Canada thinks. Section 481 of the Canada Elections Act is quite clear that bribery can be defined as the indirect influence of votes of others:
481. (1) Every person is guilty of an offence who, during an election period, directly or indirectly offers a bribe to influence an elector to vote or refrain from voting or to vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate.
(2) Every elector is guilty of an offence who, during an election period, accepts or agrees to accept a bribe that is offered in the circumstances described in subsection (1).
Using this definition, Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion would be guilty under (1) and Green Party leader Elizabeth May under (2), if what is being reported is true.
