Angry in the Great White North

The Green Party under Elizabeth May no longer seems to be able to command the sort of media attention it used to before and during the last federal election.  In the wake of Barack Obama's win in November, Stephen Harper announced it was intention of the Canadian government to pursue a continent-wide approach to greenhouse gas control.

Well, Elizabeth May is not impressed:

Canada must have a real climate change plan to interest U.S. President-elect Barack Obama in negotiating a climate change agreement between Canada and the United States, say the Greens. Canada will also have to provide some assurance it won’t turn its back on the deal a few years down the road, the way the Harper government abandoned the Kyoto Protocol.

“Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon can’t truly believe there are any similarities between the Harper government’s approach and Mr. Obama’s plan,” said Green Party leader Elizabeth May.

That's a fair comment, I guess.  I mean, it is true that Elizabeth May is singing from her complain-about-anything-Conservative song sheet, but there is a legitimate question about the amount of movement both governments would have to make to come to a deal.  Vested interests on both sides of the border will be in play, applying pressure this way and that.  These realities already make the positions different, and bridging the differences will be difficult.  But then that's what governments do.  I think Elizabeth May is being premature with her criticism, and frankly, her attitude is not at all helpful.  Thankfully her party has no seats in parliament, because her attitude is obstructionist, declaring the Conservative position to a failure before the consultations have even begun.  Having a clutch of MPs, or even one MP, undermining Canada's position in these sorts of negotiations by gushing over Barack Obama could in itself scuttle any chance for success.

But then Elizabeth May didn't manage to earn a single seat in parliament for the Green Party, and that's the point.  Her failure as a party leader has far reaching consequences.  The most immediate effect is the marginalization of the Green Party.  Her bleating is of no interest to anyone, in a political sense.  That's reflected in the media coverage.  Her comments weren't carried in the National Post or the Globe and Mail.  Her opinion about potential consultations and negotiations between Stephen Harper and Barack Obama, a legitimate and important news story, is being reported by only one news source, The Canadian, a small and inconsequential progressive paper.

I have a feeling that Elizabeth May will live on the fringe for a very long time, and the Green Party will be there to keep her company.  It could have been different, of course.  Had the advice of more savvy political supporters been heeded, and had the Green Party focused on one or two winnable seats, and had the Green Party succeeded in getting just one MP in parliament, then her comments would be in every major paper.

But she blew it.  And now I have to dig deep to find evidence of her political existence.