We’re third and rising

For the first time, the Green Party is the third party nationally.  In a Strategic Counsel poll commissioned by the Globe and Mail and CTV, the Green Party is polling at 13% nationally, above both the NDP at 12% and the Bloc at 11%.  With this news, Deputy Leader Adriane Carr has asked all Canadians to sign on to the petition demanding that Elizabeth be allowed into the televised Leader’s debates during the next federal election.  I’m asking everyone to do that now.

Jim Harris has some interesting comments about the poll.  As he points out,

In the West the Greens are at 18% — two per cent ahead of the NDP. In Quebec the Greens are at 10% while the NDP is at 7% and in Ontario the Greens and the NDP are tied at 12%. So the Green Party is ahead of the NDP in every region — except Ontario where it’s a tie.

This positions the Green Party to elect the first Green caucus of MPs in the upcoming federal election. It’s interesting to note that the NDP in 1993 with 6.88% of the vote elected 9 MPs. The Green Party is now at almost double that national threshold.

The poll itself makes some very interesting comments:

The poll confirms previous findings that the Liberals are the natural beneficiaries when the Conservatives
hit a bump in the road – the Liberals have made some modest gains at the expense of the NDP. Clearly,
the Liberals have an opportunity to consolidate their position as the anti-Harper default party. The NDP
should be concerned about how to position itself as the Liberals go on the offense in attacking the
Government – its numbers are down 7 points from 19% in June to 12% now. Our August poll found that
NDP voters are the most virulent anti-Harper segment in the country and would be inclined to move to the
Liberals if they had opportunity to defeat the Harper Government.

This makes a lot of sense to me.  It is why I’ve been saying all along that those of us who recognize Harper’s animosity toward climate change progress need to state this with a common voice rather than bickering amongst ourselves on this narrow point.

In general, the poll brings badly needed good news for the Green Party and for climate change.  The Conservatives have lost their lead and are now tied with the Liberals nationally.  It would serve Prime Minister Harper right if after winning an election on the issue of accountability, he lost the following election because his own party is not as accountable as he portrayed.  Let’s work to get some Greens elected.