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A tale of two conventions

By Ard Van Leeuwen, 2008 Green Party of Canada candidate for Dufferin-Caledon

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

During a national convention, a political party’s soul-searching is even more intense than during a general election. How has the party performed over the past two years? Have we learned from our mistakes and are we on track to achieving success? How do we measure success?

The way you answer these questions would to a large extent determine how you would compare the Green Party of Canada’s Ottawa 2006 convention with the party’s Pictou 2009 convention. The two were certainly very different in many aspects but was one convention “better” than the other? The answer lies in the eyes of the beholder. It all depends on what you want the Green party of Canada to become.

Most Greens probably remember the day they decided to become politically active. My own decision came the day after the Ottawa convention, which I attended as an observer. I saw innovative policies from a party with a plan buoyed by momentum. I felt the potential was there to elect two dozen Green MP’s in the next few election cycles. I was eager to contribute.

Compared to Pictou, Ottawa was more business-like. Presentations were made on party finances and the Executive Director gave a progress report on staff programs and priorities. Ottawa showed the bench strength of Green Party leadership and staff by giving them plenary session time. Ottawa proved that the Green Party had the tools to compete.

Ottawa also had about twice the number of attendees despite a registration fee that was about twice as expensive as Pictou’s. Ottawa was more accessible to media and received more coverage. In addition to all regular convention activities, Ottawa thrived on the energy that comes with electing a new leader, Elizabeth May, and basked in the memories stirred up by a tribute to Jim Harris, the former leader.

Ottawa’s convention activities were more diversified. Outside of plenary sessions, attendees were able to enroll in various workshops. For example, instead of working on policy development I opted to spend time in workshops for building riding associations and local campaign planning.

Ottawa’s speakers covered politics and organization. Pollster Nik Nanos gave the convention an outsider’s analysis of how the Green Party was seen by Canadians and how it compared with other parties. The Co-President of the European greens spoke about lessons learned there. Candidates who performed well in the previous election were given time to speak and answer questions about their campaigns.

The Ottawa convention was bigger but many Greens instinctively feel that bigger is often not better. The green principle of living within our environmental and fiscal means resonates deeply and in many forms. Pictou put more emphasis on walking the talk and supporting smaller local economies. Choosing Atlantic Canada, a region where Green Party strength has been historically weaker, was in itself an expression of the poetic justice of treating regions equally.

Pictou had no optional workshop choices so most of the attendees’ time was spent on policy resolutions. Because of that, I discovered that I actually liked being involved in formulating policy and I was pleasantly surprised at how the collective wisdom of group-work smoothed rough edges off some policy initiatives.

Pictou focused more on the issues than did Ottawa. In Pictou guest speakers addressed the economic and health issues of the Athabasca tar sands, climate change, single payer public health care, and the forest industry.

But unlike in Ottawa, there was no public accountability or questions for people responsible for finance, communications, organizing, or campaign readiness. Most of the interaction in Pictou was informal, organic. Much of it happened on the trains, busses and airplanes where attendees randomly bumped into each other on their travels.

Just prior to Ottawa, membership growth bulged probably due in large part to the leadership race. Since then membership growth has been weak. In Ottawa there was the promise of Elizabeth May, a new media attention-grabbing leader who later delivered on that promise with a convincing performance during the national debates. In Pictou there was the realization that even that new high water mark had not been enough to get a single Green foot in the door on Parliament hill.

The Green Party of Canada’s 2008 general election readiness effort was dismal. Despite the positive spin that can be put on the fact that the popular vote percentage increased, the sober reality was that much potential was left on the table.

Pictou’s shortcoming was that almost no time was spent discussing how election readiness would be addressed the next time around. There was no discussion on how to tackle slowing membership growth. There was no objective outsider analysis of how the Green Party was perceived in the minds of the 93 percent of the electorate who did not vote Green and no talk of developing a much needed coherent messaging strategy.

The Elections Canada Act defines a political party as "an organization one of whose fundamental purposes is to participate in public affairs by endorsing one or more of its members as candidates and supporting their election”.  The Green Party must marry the yin and yang that were too far separated in the Ottawa and Pictou conventions if it’s to live up to that definition. Policies only have a marginal influence when a party has no seats to help implement those policies.

Unless Pictou’s green spirit and energy is harnessed with Ottawa’s political organization, Green Party candidates will never be elected in any significant numbers. For me, that’s an unacceptable outcome as it probably would be for the Green Party’s founders and campaigners who for 25 years fought against much greater odds of electoral success than the Green Party faces now.

Ard Van Leeuwen is a principal and founder of the New Toronto Group, a specialty software services firm. He is active in his local Dufferin-Caledon Green Party riding associations and ran as their federal candidate in 2008.