Ask-The-Contestants!

Thank you for the question Vivian!

As many of you know, I led a two campaigns for Proportional Representation in my home province of Prince Edward Island (including one which contributed to the downfall of the PEI Liberal government, and the rise of the Greens as official opposition!) and have sat on the board of Fair Vote Canada. So - I think it’s fair to say that fair voting (meaning, Proportional Representation!) is a major passion of mine, as it is for my co-leadership partner, Chad.

I know that all Green leadership candidates will support the goal of proportional representation, but we each have different ideas on the pathway to making it happen.

We believe there are 4 key elements of strategy to achieving Proportional Representation. All of these strategies reinforce each other, and need to be advanced in concert, if we are going to win change:

1 - Communicating with and engaging the public, to build pressure: by lifting up the voices of non-partisan advocates for change, especially Fair Vote Canada, the Springtide Collective, and key individual authors who write on the issue. This will help to engage and educate Canadians, drive media coverage, and position the Green Party as leaders on this issue.

2 - Building cross-partisan alignment on the need for progress on this issue - by reaching across the aisle, deeply listening, and having 1-1 conversations with activists in other parties who have been pushing their parties on this issue. We know that proportional representation advocates exist in the NDP, Liberals, and, more recently, also the Conservatives.

3 - Growing the Green caucus in parliament, to achieve the balance of power - We have outlined our plans for a Green Leaders’ Network ‘campaign school’, to rapidly upscale the number of high-ambition campaigns in ridings across the country, in our 6 month plan: www.KeenanWalcott.ca/6monthplan

4 - Being willing to ‘play hardball’ when it comes to Confidence and Supply negotiations - We have named Proportional Representation as a ‘red line’ for our collaboration, should we elect a caucus that holds the balance of power. This means having the confidence to force an election on this issue. We know that Canadians are disillusioned with democracy, and are seeking revitalization, and a more collaborative way of doing politics. Proportional Representation is a key opportunity to lead that change. Announcing this condition openly, before an election takes place, is a key way that we Greens can frame the media narrative and force other parties to respond to our leadership.