About one month before the 1980 federal election, eleven candidates, mostly from ridings in the Atlantic provinces, issued a joint press release declaring that they were running on a common platform. It called for a transition to a non-nuclear, conserver society. Although they ran as independents, they unofficially used the name "Small Party" as part of their declaration of unity — a reference to the "small is beautiful" philosophy of E. F. Schumacher. This was the most substantial early attempt to answer the call for an ecologically-oriented Canadian political party. A key organizer was Elizabeth May who now runs the Sierra Club of Canada. The House of Commons after the 1980 election The 1980 Canadian federal election was called when the minority Progressive Conservative government led by Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. ... An electoral district is a geographically-based constituency upon which Canadas representative democracy is based. ... A nuclear power station. ... Ernst Friedrich Fritz Schumacher (16 August 1911 – 4 September 1977) was an internationally influential economic thinker with a professional background as a statistician and economist in Britain. ... Elizabeth May Elizabeth May (born June 9, 1954) is an environmentalist, writer, activist, and lawyer in Canada. ... Sierra Club of/du Canada (SCC) is the Canadian affiliate of the United States-based Sierra Club. ...

Three years later, North America's first Green Party was born in British Columbia, and later that same year the Ontario Greens were formed. The BC Greens ran Canada's first Green candidate. Later that year, the founding conference of the Canadian Greens was held in Ontario. Close to 200 people from 55 communities attended, coming from every province except Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island. The Green Party of British Columbia is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. ... Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Official languages none stated in law; English is de facto Flower Pacific dogwood Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 36 6 Area Total  - Land  - Water    (% of total)  Ranked... The Green Party of Ontario (GPO) contests provincial elections in Ontario, Canada. ... The Green Party of British Columbia is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. ... Motto: Quaerite Prime Regnum Dei (Latin: Seek ye first the kingdom of God) Official languages None Capital St. ... Motto: Parva Sub Ingenti (Latin: The small under the protection of the great) Official languages None Capital Charlottetown Largest city Charlottetown Lieutenant-Governor J. Léonce Bernard Premier Pat Binns (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 4 4 Area Total  â€¢ Land  â€¢ Water    (% of total)  Ranked 13th 5,660 km...

The birthing process was difficult, with deep divisions between those arguing for a national structure, and those in favour of a process that would build from the regions following the bioregional democracy structure. Bioregional democracy (or the Bioregional State) is a set of electoral reforms designed to force the political process in a democracy to better represent concerns about the economy, the body, and environmental concerns (e. ...

Trevor Hancock was the party's first registered leader. Party members chose a radically decentralized party structure, and for several years a kind of green anarchism prevailed. Eventually, an uneasy agreement was reached for a federation of regional parties, with strong support for building upwards from the bottom. The question arose: "Is the priority to redefine politics from the ground up, or to play the electoral game according to the present rules? Or both?" Green anarchism is a set of related political theories that is derived from philosophical and social movements such as social ecologists, feminism, egoism, situationism, surrealism, the Luddittes, primitivism, post- and anti-leftists, indigenous, anti-industrialism, and pre-civilized people. ...

Many members saw the party as a way to protest Canada's political system, and not much more. Nonetheless it did run candidates.

1980s

The Green Party of Canada contested its first federal election in September 1984. A little over 1% of Canadians voted Green. Unfortunately, the ongoing discussions about the party's modus operandi became so exhausting that, at one point in the mid-1980s, there was a near collapse of the party. It was kept alive — if not particularly active — for almost a decade under the stewardship of the BC Greens. The Green Party of Canada is a federal political party in Canada. ... The Canadian federal election of 1984 was called on July 4, 1984, and held on September 4 of that year. ...

In the 1988 federal election, the Green spotlight was on Quebec, where le Parti Vert (not the same as the current Parti Vert du Québec) ran 29 candidates, up from just 4 in the previous election. Les Verts received higher results than Green candidates anywhere else in Canada, polling an average of 2.4% of the vote. The Quebec wing hosted the 1990 Canadian Greens conference in Montreal. But soon after that, Canada's constitutional problems interfered, and many Quebec candidates abandoned the Greens in favour of a Quebec sovereigntist party, the Bloc Québécois. There were only six Green candidates from Quebec in the 1993 election. Map of the Popular Vote with bar graphs showing seat totals in the provinces and territories The Canadian Parliament after the 1988 election The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons. ... Motto: Je me souviens (French: I remember) Official languages French Flower White garden lily Capital Quebec City Largest city Montreal Lieutenant-Governor Lise Thibault Premier Jean Charest (PLQ) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 75 24 Area Total  - Land  - Water    (% of total)  Ranked 2nd 1,542,056 km² 1,183... The Parti vert du Québec or PVQ (in English: Green Party of Quebec) is a Quebec political party whose platform is the promotion of green values . ... Quebec The Quebec sovereignty movement is a movement calling for the attainment of sovereignty for Quebec, a province of the country of Canada. ... The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada that is devoted to the promotion of sovereignty for Quebec. ... Popular vote map with bar graphs showing seat totals in the provinces and territories. ...

In the summer of 1988, the BC Greens, under the de facto leadership of electoral reform activist Steve Kisby tried to get the Green Party of Canada onto its feet by hosting a conference — the first federal gathering since the founding meeting in 1983. The main accomplishment of that conference was the acceptance, after five years as a registered party, of a constitution. The party continued to field candidates at the federal level, and provincial parties were organized in a few other provinces, led by consistently strong efforts in British Columbia.

In 1988, however, despite minimal on the ground organization, Quebec produced the lion's share of Green candidates and votes thanks to the efforts of Quebec organizer and candidate Rolf Bramann. A year later, the provincial Greens in Quebec scored an impressive 2% of the popular vote, averging 5% in the constituencies in which they ran under the leadership of Jean Ouimet. Montreal's municipal Ecology Party also scored very well in elections in this period under the leadership of publisher Dimitri Roussopoulos. Portrait of Jean Ouimet. ...

Ouimet, a strong sovereigntist, maintained a party wholly independent of the federal Greens during his leadership; as a result Bramann created an organization called the Green Party of Canada in Quebec, a predominantly anglophone entity that nominated federal candidates only. There was open antipathy between Ouimet and Bramann. Neither was affiliated with Écologie-Montreal.

At the same time as the PVQ began to collapse due to Ouimet's defection to the PQ in 1992, Bramann was removed from his position in the federal party due to anti-semetic comments he and some of his candidates had made. This led to a precipitous decline in all Green Party organizations in Quebec despite a very promising start a mere four years previous.

From 1988 onwards, a pattern developed whereby the federal party tended to function alternately as an appendage of the BC and Ontario provincial parties. Lacking a sufficient funding or administrative base of its own, control of the federal Greens was sometimes a prize (when the provincial affiliate and its leader wanted to demonstrate its success), and at others, a burden (when the provincial affiliate was forced to invest significant volunteer energy or money for its maintenance) for the Greens in BC and Ontario. Successful candidates for the positions of Leader and Chief Financial Officer were typically personal associates of either the BC or Ontario party's de facto or de jure leader for whom the leader publicly mobilized and delivered votes.

1990s

In the spring of 1996, although the hopes of electing a representative to the BC legislature proved premature, Andy Shadrack in the interior of the province received over 11% of the vote. Overall, the party's proportion of the popular vote surged to a new high. Shadrack was also the most popular Green candidate in the 1997 federal election, scoring over 6% of the popular vote in West Kootenay-Okanagan.

At the party's sixth annual gathering in Castlegar, British Columbia, hosted by Shadrack's riding association, in August 1996, a complete overhaul of the party's constitution was made, spearheaded by Stuart Parker, leader of the provincial Greens in BC. The party's new constitutional framework both democratized and centralized the party which had been previously hobbled by an unworkably decentralized structure. These changes also ended de jure (it had ended de facto some three years earlier) the constitutional prohibition against the party's registered leader acting as its spokesperson or representative. Policy was also agreed to in a wide variety of areas. An important step forward was the structuring of a Shadow Cabinet, whose mandate was to create a platform for the next election in 1997. Castlegar (49° 19′ 34″ N, 117° 39′ 53″ W) is a small city in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada. ... Stuart Parker Stuart Parker was leader of the Green Party in British Columbia, Canada, from 1993 to 2000. ... The Shadow Cabinet (also called the Shadow Front Bench) is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition (or the leader of other smaller opposition parties) form an alternative cabinet to the governments, whose... 36th Parliament The Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons. ...

The Castlegar gathering marked the beginning of a new era in Canadian Green history, and a somewhat uneasy one at that. In spite of a concern about the nature of leadership in a decentralized party, the Greens' first leadership campaign had been underway for the previous six months. Four candidates contested the leadership. A mail-in ballot was held: Wendy Priesnitz (from Ontario) beat Don Francis (Quebec), Jason Crummey (Newfoundland and Labrador), and Harry Garfinkle (Alberta) to become the Registered Leader of the Green Party of Canada. Wendy Priesnitz is a Canadian alternative education advocate. ... Don Francis is a Canadian politician and political activist. ... It is proposed that this article be deleted, because of the following concern: Fails to establish notability If you can address this concern by improving, copyediting, sourcing, renaming or merging the page, please edit this page and do so. ... Motto: Quaerite Prime Regnum Dei (Latin: Seek ye first the kingdom of God) Official languages None Capital St. ... Harry Garfinkle is a Green politician in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. ... Motto: Fortis et liber (Latin: Strong and free) Official languages English Flower Wild rose Capital Edmonton Largest city Calgary Lieutenant-Governor Norman Kwong Premier Ralph Klein (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 28 6 Area Total  - Land  - Water    (% of total)  Ranked 6th 661,848 km² 642,317 km² 19...

In January 1997, although initially recruited by Ontario Green Party leader Frank de Jong, Wendy Priesnitz resigned over what she characterized as domination of the party by an "old boys' network" comprising the BC and Ontario provincial leaders and their male-dominated circles of organizers and advisors. Harry Garfinkle stepped in to be the interim Registered Leader of the Green Party of Canada, and a leadership convention by mail-in ballot was held. The Green Party of Ontario (GPO) contests provincial elections in Ontario, Canada. ... Frank de Jong (born 1955 in Luther Township, northeast of Arthur, Ontario) is a Canadian politician and environmentalist. ...

Joan Russow's leadership 1997–2001

British Columbia's Joan Russow became leader of the Green Party of Canada on April 13, 1997. Russow won 52% of the ballots cast in the 1997 leadership race, surpassing Ontario's Jim Harris (39%) and Rachelle Small (8%). Immediately upon attaining the leadership, Russow was plunged into a federal general election. Russow's campaign in 1997 set a number of important precedents. The 1997 election was the first campaign in which the Greens conducted a national leader's tour, presented a national platform and a bilingual campaign (Russow is trilingual, speaking Spanish and well as French and English). Previous campaigns, due in part to the party's few resources and, in part, to the party's constitutional straitjacket, had been characterized by policy and spokespeople operating, at best, province-by-province and, at worst, riding-by-riding. In her own riding of Victoria, Russow received just shy of 3000 votes and 6% of the popular vote. Joan Elizabeth Russow is a noted Canadian peace activist and former leader of the Green Party of Canada. ... April 13 is the 103rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (104th in leap years). ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In the 2000 election, the party nominated 111 candidates, in nine out of ten provinces — all but Newfoundland and Labrador — and in one of three territories (Nunavut). These candidates collected 0.81% of the total popular vote. The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000, to elect 301 Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of Canada. ... Motto: Nunavut Sannginivut (Inuktitut: Nunavut our strength or Our land our strength) Official languages Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, English, French Capital Iqaluit Largest city Iqaluit Commissioner Ann Meekitjuk Hanson Premier Paul Okalik (independent) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 1 Nancy Karetak-Lindell 1 Willie Adams Area Total  â€¢ Land  â€¢ Water    (% of total...

Candidates were not run in Newfoundland and Labrador, as a result of ongoing divisions over Joan Russow's refusal to endorse the Green candidate in an earlier St. John's West by-election. (The candidate in question supported the seal hunt and mining development, as most locals did.) This caused much uncertainty and friction between Newfoundland's Terra Nova Green Party Association and the Green Party leader as the party gradually adapted to the realities of functioning as a true national party rather than a disorganized federation of local activists. A by-election or bye-election is a special election held to fill a political office when the incumbent has died or resigned. ...

In the 2001 Quebec City protest against the Free Trade Area of the Americas, Russow was the first person incarcerated in a jail built specially for protesters, for taking a photograph of it from outside. Russow promoted the Green Party as a leader in the anti-globalization movement, in particular the anti-corporatist and pro-peace movement, but felt undermined when the German Greens supported the bombing of Belgrade. As other members of her party had supported military intervention, Russow's leadership was called into question. She stepped down as party leader in 2001 and left the party to join the New Democratic Party (NDP). Because the NDP's federal and provincial wings are integrated, this also entailed joining the New Democratic Party of British Columbia. The Summit of the Americas held in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, on the weekend of April 20, 2001, was a round of negotiations regarding a proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas. ... This article or section needs to be updated. ... Anti-WEF grafiti in Lausanne. ... The term corporatism has different meanings in different contexts. ... The New Democratic Party (NDP) is a political party in Canada with a social democratic philosophy and moderate democratic socialist tendencies that contests elections at both the federal and provincial levels. ... The New Democratic Party of British Columbia is a democratic socialist political party in British Columbia, Canada. ...

Another factor in her resignation may have been ongoing conflicts within the party provincially and municipally in her home city of Victoria, where she had switched allegiance from the Parker faction to the Adriane Carr faction. Her late conversion left her on unsure footing with the powerful new provincial leader and in public conflict with City Councilor Art Vanden Berg and other members of the Parker-affiliated team that had backed her leadership during the 1997 and 1998 leadership contests. Adriane Carr in 2005. ...

The conflicts left Russow isolated and alienated from most members of the party. Volunteer efforts were substantially absorbed in provincial campaigns between 2001 and 2003, and the federal party became dormant between elections, as was typical in the past. Chris Bradshaw served the party as interim leader from 2001 to February 2003. Christopher John (Chris) Bradshaw (born 1944 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian politician. ...

Jim Harris' leadership 2003-2006

In February 2003, Jim Harris, in his second bid for the leadership, defeated John Grogan of Valemount, British Columbia, and Jason Crummey. Crummey was originally from Newfoundland and involved with Newfoundland and Labrador Terra Nova Greens. Harris, an author and public speaker, and GPC member since 1987 (though not active in several previous elections), had the support of all provincial Green Party leaders, breaking 15 years of precedent of the BC leader backing a BC candidate from their own political circle. His election was taken by many as reflecting a desire among the members to "become serious" in achieving electoral progress, and to steer away from any explicit anti-political ideas. However, his campaign also included a hard line against Red-Green (ie. alliances with NDP members and organized labour) coalitions that Russow had supported at the municipal level in Victoria. While adopting the rhetoric of pragmatism, some argue, Harris eschewed the only strategy that has ever elected Greens under the first-past-the-post system. Harris announced on April 24, 2006 that he would stand down as leader at the party's convention in August. Jim Harris. ... John Grogan, 51, has lived and worked in the Robson Valley, B.C. for the past 25 years. ... Valemount is a village of 1200 people in east central British Columbia, Canada. ... It is proposed that this article be deleted, because of the following concern: Fails to establish notability If you can address this concern by improving, copyediting, sourcing, renaming or merging the page, please edit this page and do so. ... Motto: Quaerite Prime Regnum Dei (Latin: Seek ye first the kingdom of God) Official languages None Capital St. ...

Full slate

The Green Party ran a fundraising campaign in 2003 to realize Harris' goal of running a full slate in the upcoming election. This party also had to borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars against the $1.75/vote expected to accrue to the party after the election. The party began organizing in all provinces with paid staff. 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

2004 election and aftermath

For information about the 2004 election, see: Canadian federal election, 2004. For information on nominated candidates, see Green Party of Canada candidates, 2004 federal election.

In the 2004 election, the party received a significant increase in media coverage on the strength of its 308 candidates, the platform, and a national leaders' tour. The party began to be included in almost all national political polls. Its popular support peaked at 7% during the campaign, and the party finished with 4.3% of the vote. The party's strongest candidate, Andrew Lewis in the riding of Saanich—Gulf Islands, won over 10,000 votes, the first Green Party candidate to do so. Lewis still finished fourth in the riding, however. The Canadian federal election, 2004 (more formally, the 38th general election), was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons. ... The Green Party of Canada ran a full slate of 308 candidates in the 2004 federal election. ... Andrew Lewis is the Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Canada and a prominent member of the Green Party of British Columbia. ... Saanich—Gulf Islands is the name of a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada. ...

In August 2004 at the national convention near Calgary, Alberta, Jim Harris was re-elected, with a reduced majority of only 56%. Rival Tom Manley polled nearly 37%. Tom Manley (born 1960 in Berwick, Ontario) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. ...

Most conference debate centred around significant constitutional reform proposals, and the role of membership in ruling on matters of policy and the constitution. The conference ended with a re-affirmation of a hybrid that was developed during the campaign: a centralized executive with decentralized policy and constitutional development.

Politicians from different political backgrounds have expressed interest in the party. Former Deputy Prime Minister Sheila Copps on March 2, 2005, spoke publicly to a group of Greens in Toronto, advising the party on its electoral strategy. Former Progressive Conservative leadership candidate David Orchard not only attended but met with members of the GPC Council; however, Orchard's involvement with the Greens dates back to the mid 1990s when he worked with Russow on a variety of trade and international issues. (Ontario leader Frank de Jong and BC leader Stuart Parker were featured speakers at pro-Orchard rallies early in his first bid for the Tory leadership in 1998.) It was also rumoured in the media in 2004 that David Anderson, the former Minister of the Environment in Chretien's government, was considering joining the party. Anderson, however, successfully ran for re-election as a Liberal. Hon. ... March 2 is the 61st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (62nd in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... David Orchard (born June 28, 1950, in Borden, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian political figure and a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. ... Frank de Jong (born 1955 in Luther Township, northeast of Arthur, Ontario) is a Canadian politician and environmentalist. ... Stuart Parker Stuart Parker was leader of the Green Party in British Columbia, Canada, from 1993 to 2000. ... David Anderson is not to be confused with David L. Anderson, the member of parliament from Cypress Hills--Grasslands. ...

2006 election

The party elected no candidates, but received 4.5% of the vote nationally (up from 4.3% in 2004) and 665,940 votes (an increase of about 80,000 votes from 2004). Its best performance was in Alberta, where it received 6.6%. Sean Maw won 10.84% of the vote in Wild Rose and finished a very distant second to Conservative Myron Thompson. Shane Jolley won 12.9% of the vote in Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound riding, the largest share of the vote won by any of its candidates. In the riding Ottawa Centre, the Green candidate David Chernushenko received 6,766 votes, the largest number of votes of any of the party's candidates. It had been hoped by Greens that the party's deputy leader, Andrew Lewis, would achieve a breakthrough in Saanich—Gulf Islands where he won 16.7% of the vote in the 2004 election as well as carrying 17 of 238 polling divisions, making Lewis the first Green candidate to win even one polling division. However, running again in Saanich—Gulf Islands in 2006 he lost one-third of his 2004 vote share winning only 9.6% of the ballots cast. Wild Rose is the name of a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada. ... Myron Thompson (born 1936, in Monte Vista, Colorado, USA) is an dual citizen of Canada and the United States who currently sits as a Conservative Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons. ... Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound is a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons, and located in the province of Ontario. ... Ottawa Centre is an urban federal and provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1968, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1968. ... David Chernushenko at age 40 David Chernushenko is a businessman and politician in Ontario, Canada. ... Andrew Lewis is the Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Canada and a prominent member of the Green Party of British Columbia. ... Saanich—Gulf Islands is the name of a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada. ...

The party's 2006 election campaign was disrupted by allegations made by Matthew Pollesell, the party's former assistant national organizer, that Harris had not filed a proper accounting of money spent during his 2004 leadership campaign, as required by law. Pollesell issued a request that Elections Canada investigate. Pollesell and another former party member, Gretchen Schwarz, were subsequently warned by the party's legal counsel to retract allegations they had made or face a possible legal action. Dana Miller, who served in the party's shadow cabinet with responsibility for human-rights issues, made public her earlier complaints that the party has violated election law and its own constitution and has also asked for an Elections Canada investigation. Miller was expelled from the party after filing a complaint within the party in April.^[1] The 2006 Canadian federal election (more formally, the 39th General Election) was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons. ...

References

1. ^ [1]