Finally, a Green Party representative elected in North America. This historic victory by Elizabeth May could very well pave the way for Greener days for the movement in Canada and the rest of North America. We finally know we can do it – get elected that is. Pouring all the party resources in one riding, Saanich Gulf Island, did bring the Greens a seat in parliament but at a heavy cost. Some in the party believe this hurt the other hard working ridings in the country. I, on the other hand, think the 3.8% showing had everything to do with being virtually ignored by most of the media. While the Green Brass has to take some responsibility for the drop in popular vote, most of the blame can be pointed towards the lack of ANY media attention – and our absence on the nationally televised debates. It’s no surprise that Jack Laytons popularity surged after the TV debates – that’s the power of media. With Elizabeth Mays exclusion from the debates came an enormous drop for the Greens in the popular vote. There is absolutely no denying that. Every single riding and party in Canada relies on the national message for votes. Without that message, you may as well just do what the Conservatives candidates do – stay home (during elections). Most Canadians don’t vote for their candidate, they vote for a party. That I’m afraid is the reality. While this may be less true in rural ridings, it’s absolutely true in cities and larger towns. I ran against Parm Gill (Conservative) in the 2006. I remember him not knowing what proportional representation was or that heath care was administered by the provinces or who PAUL MARTIN is. Guess what? He’s one of our newly elected MP’s, beating out incumbent Ruby Duala (Lib). He’s in and Gerard Kennedy, Ken Dryden and Martha Hall-Findly are out? He was elected because people will believe anything they hear, including those Conservative ad’s that were borderline lies. The content never challenged by reporters. Is a matter of fact the Harper Media Action Plan (take over the media), worked quite well for them. Global’s Peter Cant, CTV’s Dumb Dumb Duffy, Astral Media’s very own Peter Unsherman and how can we forget good old Sun TV. All of these guys are working for the Con’s now. We have a serious problem in this country and it’s all about brainwashing. This is why Harper can get rid of party funding. He doesn’t need to spend money promoting his party; he’s got Global, CTV, Corus Entertainment, Quebecor and Astral Media doing all the promoting and more for the Con’s - right across the country. I took it upon myself to continuously screen CFRB1010 (Astral) and Talk640(Corus) in Toronto and to call in at every opportunity and present the green perspective (hence the handle "Nick from Downtown"). My head spins from the crap that is being dealt to Canadians by these wack job talk show hosts. The kicker is that it works and brought us Rob Ford, a Conservative majority and their next goal is a Conservative Ontario. This may sound like an excuse but the media is more powerful then I had ever imagined (after my screening experiences) and if these right wing wacko’s continue their onslaught with no resistance, we will be Alabama in no time.
