May urges NDP to co-operate

CTVNEWS

May scolds NDP hostility towards Green party

CTV.ca News Staff Published Sunday, March 23, 2008 2:27PM EDT

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The recent byelection results show the NDP should end its feud with the Green Party and start figuring out how to work together to topple the minority Conservative government, says Green Leader Elizabeth May.

"I have people coming over and saying, 'I'm going to vote Green because I think the NDP is more interested in eliminating the Liberal party than in restoring to power a government that actually cares about issues I care about,'" she told CTV's Question Period on Sunday.

"My advice to (NDP Leader Jack) Layton which is open and really in the spirit of co-operation -- rethink the policy of constantly denigrating the Greens and acting hostile towards us."

The Greens enjoyed relative success in the four federal byelections held last Monday:

In Vancouver Quadra, narrowly kept by the Liberals, the Greens finished 272 votes behind the third-place NDP;
In Saskatchewan's Desneth锟�--Missinippi--Churchill River, the Greens were well back of the NDP, capturing only 320 votes in a riding that swung to the Conservatives;
In Toronto Centre, the Greens were only 113 votes behind the second-place NDP in a seat easily held by the Liberals' Bob Rae; and
In Willowdale, another Toronto riding, the Greens finished third, ahead of the NDP by 232 votes, although the Liberals' Martha Hall Findlay easily won.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion and May reached a deal last year in which their parties would not run candidates in the other leader's riding.

Dion represents Montreal's Saint-Laurent - Cartierville riding. May is hoping to win a seat in Nova Scotia's Central Nova riding, where she hopes to unseat Conservative Defence Minister Peter MacKay.

The NDP attacked that deal.

"What Mr. Dion and I have done could be something that Mr. Layton and I could talk about," May said. "Not just specific trades in different ridings, but an effort to be more collaborative so that we can figure out -- in a first-past-the-post system -- can we work together to ensure that (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper enjoys a one-term period as prime minister.

"We cannot afford more than one term of this government."

The Greens have yet to elect an MP to the House of Commons.

Some analysts feel the Greens, while rising in the national polls since the 2006 federal election, have an "inefficient" vote. By that, they mean the Greens have no pockets of support where they can have a realistic prospect of winning.

Others speculate throwing the Greens into the mix actually helps the Conservatives by drawing votes away from the Liberals and NDP.

May said her party draws from all the traditional parties.

"I believe that if we have an election that focuses on issues and not spin and attack ads, the voters will exercise their wisdom," she said.

With the gulf between the Conservatives and other parties on issues like climate change and the war on terror, May hoped the vote would split towards defeating Conservatives and not electing them.

May noted her party doesn't have a regional base like the Conservatives or Bloc Quebecois, but she thinks they do have pockets of support.

She named Vancouver Centre as a possible breakthrough riding in the next general election.

Bob Rae

Rae, a former Ontario NDP leader, returns to Parliament after a 26-year absence.

"I do think that ultimately, people are going to have to decide whether they do want the Harper government to continue or whether they want to find a progressive alternative," he told Question Period.

"The NDP and the Greens can't replace Mr. Harper. They can snap at his heels, they can bark at his car, but they can't actually get in the car and drive it.

"It's only the Liberal party that's in a position to do that."

Rae, who has advocated "strategic patience," said the Liberals should pick a time when "those issues will become clearer to the public."

In a March 17 Strategic Counsel poll prepared for CTV and the Globe and Mail, the Conservatives held a comfortable 11-point lead over the Liberals (percentage-point change from a Feb. 14-17 poll in brackets):

Conservatives: 38 per cent (-1)
Liberals: 27 per cent (same)
NDP: 14 per cent (+2)
Green Party: 12 per cent (same)
Bloc Quebecois: 10 per cent (same)

The current seat counts for the parties in the 308-seat House of Commons are: