HALIFAX - Green party was "clearly unprepared" for the recent federal election, leaving leader Elizabeth May feeling like she was "flying by the seat of my pants," says a confidential post-mortem prepared by May.
In a six-page document obtained by The Canadian Press, May wrote that the party had a "watershed election" and should be pleased that its share of the national vote jumped to 6.8 per cent from 4.5 per cent in the 2006 election.
However, the Greens failed to win a seat anywhere in the country and May placed second in her Nova Scotia riding of Central Nova to Defence Minister Peter MacKay.
In a section of the document titled, "Factors in our control," May said she had sense of almost constant stress after the campaign began on Sept. 8 -- some of it due to a lack of a clear plan by the party.
"No campaign planning document was ever prepared that I saw," she wrote. "No campaign discussions and strategy calls took place during the campaign.
"My feeling throughout the campaign was that I was flying by the seat of my pants."
May went on to say this was partly due to the party having spent its summer focusing on byelections, and having been caught off guard by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's election call.
Despite the chaos, May said some weeks of the campaign went well.
"We dominated the first week in the protest over my exclusion from the debates. The second wave was our national leaders `whistle-stop' (train) tour. In all, I participated in events in 41 ridings," she noted.
"Given the reality that this was our first major national campaign, and my first as leader, we did a remarkable job."
However, May noted that results in Quebec were "seriously worrying" and says the Quebec provincial wing of the party "is not supportive of federal Greens."
"As a party, we need to put special attention into determining why our vote did not grow in Quebec. ... Clearly, there needs to be an overhaul of our organizing efforts."
Jim Bickerton, a political scientist at St. Francis Xavier University, said that while May's critique of poor organization may be true, it isn't surprising since the party tends to focus its events and profile around the leader.
"It was a campaign focused on May. She did become the Green party in that campaign to a great extent, but maybe she's almost suggesting it wasn't by design," he said. "It fell to her because of a weakness in the organization."
May confirmed in a telephone interview Sunday that the document was drafted by her and sent to candidates and senior people in the party.
"It's a preliminary, personal assessment of high and lows and lessons learned," she said.
May wrote in the document that some of the problems were outside of the party's control, such as the economic meltdown in the United States. The economic crisis "took the campaign focus off areas of our traditional strength," she added.
John Bennett, director of communications for the party, said May's document and other analyses were reviewed during a recent party meeting.
"We're already drafting documents now to prepare for the next election. We won't get caught again," he said.
Camille Labchuk, the party's press secretary, announced Monday that she was leaving her job to take a position with an animal rights group. A release said she also intends to study law.
Bennett said her departure was not related to May's critique.
May warned the party will need to "learn from these gaps and build for a far more effective campaign next time."
"The biggest problem area to sort out by the next campaign is how I can win in my riding (any riding) when I am out of the riding more than half the time. The push and pull is tough," she wrote.
"Can we have any kind of decision that the leader winning in her seat is a top priority?"
May also argued that the party needs to find "more creative" ways during the next campaign to allow her to spend more time in her own riding.
"We need to have deputy leaders do events outside of their own ridings. We should start work now to obtain commitments from Green celebrities (entertainers, writers, sports figures) to do events and media for us during the campaign," she wrote.
In her conclusion, May said she intends to stay on and fight the next election.
"I intend to remain as leader of the Green party. My personal popularity with the Canadian electorate is something, speaking as objectively as possible, that the Green party needs. I did not become leader of this party to quit and, in so doing, watch it decline."
