PICTOU, N.S. - The leader of Canada's Green party harboured hopes Saturday that her seat-starved party can cash in on U.S. President Barack Obama's popularity among Canadians as her party held its first major meeting since last fall's federal election.
Many of the newly minted president's values on the economy and the environment are similar with the Green party's, Elizabeth May stressed in media interviews during the weekend policy convention.
"I would put Barack Obama as being more in our camp, someone who says, `Look, we've got a climate crisis that is real and is urgent and we've got an economic crisis that's real and urgent, and you don't choose to pay attention to one or the other, you better approach both urgently,"' she said in an interview with The Canadian Press Friday.
May, whose party failed to win a single seat in the Oct. 14 vote, pointed to Obama's commitment to improving how energy is used and creating more jobs in the renewable energy sector as examples of common ground between the two leaders.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, she said, lacks vision when it comes to dealing with environmental issues and the economic crisis.
May said she suspects Harper was afraid Canadians would realize his Conservatives didn't have a solid plan when he broke his own law regarding fixed election dates and called a vote for last Oct. 14.
"He had to do it, I think, because he knew Barack Obama was going to win, and once the Canadian public had become excited by the notions of hope and change, how could they possible re-elect someone who represents the opposite" she said Saturday.
"I really think if the election was held in Canada today, the contrast between those two leaders would mean that Mr. Harper wouldn't even be able to hold onto a minority."
The three-day event attracted some 250 delegates from across the country to the small community about 165 kilometres northeast of Halifax.
Rob Hines, a Vancouver-based organizer for the Greens, said it bodes well for his party that Obama enjoys strong approval ratings in Canada.
"One of the things that's been a problem with trying to pass all kinds of progressive legislation regarding greening our economy and creating sustainable jobs has been the fact that we want to be competitive on the international stage," Hines said Saturday.
"When a country like the United States, which still has the largest economy in the world, starts undertaking some of these projects, we have to realize that if we don't get on board, then we're going to be left behind."
The Greens advocate shifting the tax burden from people and putting it on pollution.
It's a message that former Liberal leader Stephane Dion tried -- and failed -- to deliver during the fall election with his so-called Green Shift. But May said Dion was sabotaged by other parties who misled voters about his platform's much-maligned centrepiece.
May said she truly believes Canadians have rejected the notion that the environment and the economy are in conflict, and will be ready to accept a new approach in the next vote.
The party was carrying a $2-million debt after the last campaign.
May said the Greens expect to be out of debt by the end of the year, but maintains they would be ready for a campaign at any time.
The party has also released an economic stimulus package.
The fiscal plan, released last month, calls for more investment in renewable energy and long-lasting infrastructure while avoiding deficits that May says would cripple the economy and threaten social services.
It's another step in the Greens' effort to establish their party as a legitimate political contender instead of a environmental fringe movement.
Peter Ormond, a convention delegate, said he became involved with the party because he believes people have no other choice but to move in a Green direction that's based on sustainability.
"People have to start learning about these ideas," said Ormond, who ran in the last election, but lost to the Conservative incumbent in the Ontario riding of Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale.
"I think definitely the Green party is an opportunity for people."
