Green Party leader says prime minister’s inaction led her to Parliament
Elizabeth May leader of the Green Party of Canada is early already sitting in Higher Ground for a quick breakfast before running a gauntlet of interviews in Calgary. She is here promoting her new book Global Warming for Dummies co-written with Zoe Caron. She is relaxed and relaxing not at all the typical leader of a federal political party. May is more conversationalist than spin-doctor coming across as the cool hippy aunt with stacks of newspapers lining her hallway. She is open smart and friendly.
Her transition from activist — heading the national chapter of the Sierra Club — to federal politician was not an easy choice. Every election cycle she was approached by various parties asking her to run under their banner — Conservative Liberal and NDP — but she always turned them down. “I always concluded no I’m doing more good where I am. The big difference for me was seeing Stephen Harper get elected prime minister and realizing the usual things that work in terms of influencing government aren’t going to work with him because he’s closed down and against action on climate change” she says.
Taking it directly to the man in the often ugly realm of federal politics allowed May a more public national voice. She managed to get the Greens into the televised debates a first for the fledgling party which allowed her to talk directly to voters about her concerns. Perhaps indicating one of the weaknesses of being a political leader the issue of climate change was not always front and centre. With a looming economic crisis much of the talk around the debate table was on the economy and for good reason according to May but she would have preferred an open conversation on global warming.
It’s difficult for her to measure the success of the decision to shift from working with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and it’s difficult to draw a clear conclusion about where change comes from. Is it the political leaders or those that devote their time to swaying them that make a difference? “It’s synergistic” she says. May quotes Gus Speth currently dean of the Yale School of Forestry but who was previously the head of the United Nations Development Program. “He said ‘You know NGOs make the waves politicians ride them.’”
May argues that it will take government leadership to really stem the tide in the fight against climate change particularly with renegotiation of the Kyoto Accord due for final debate in Copenhagen later this year.
Who is really forcing the change however is not that clear cut. With the rise of President Obama in the U.S. you could argue that environmental groups which languished in obscurity and insignificance under President Bush are gaining greater access to the decision-makers. It could also be said that the work of NGOs helped shape his world view and that of the American voter. Chicken and the egg Obama and the NGOs. “All of this is about citizen action” says May. “Politicians obviously do the things they think are going to get them re-elected. So the NGOs try to inform public opinion and public opinion is really how people are going to vote so it all kind of fits together.”
One thing is clear: taking the step from one side of the fight to the other is a one-way trip. As soon as even a hint of partisan bias creeps in you’re finished trying to lobby the government. May has the perfect solution for her future however and one that may fit well with the desire for spiritual consolation if we fail to address the need for massive change in order to avoid environmental catastrophe: religion.
May has been taking theology classes somewhere in between writing this book touring in support of it working on another book and leading a federal party. So if the next round of negotiations in Copenhagen fail it’s time to turn to the church? “Pretty much” she says laughing.
