Adbusters

Political Powershift in Canada

The birth of a blue/green hybrid pirate party.

ELOI BRUNELLE

By 2015 Canada will have endured almost a decade of Stephen Harper’s Conservative rule. While the majority of Canadians consider theirs to be a green loving, environmentalist, peace-keeping nation, their Conservative government has been shrewdly unraveling these basic threads of Canadian identity.

One would think that assaults on the national character would draw the anger of the people, but strangely the opposite has happened. As the three main leftist parties compete with each other for votes, the right is rallying behind a unified single party. Now the Conservatives have more power than ever: by winning only 40% of the popular vote during the last election, they still beat out their fractured rivals. If this game continues, they’ll have enough support under the current distorted electoral process to govern for years to come.

Only the young spirit of Occupy has the power to heave the Canadian political landscape onto a new trajectory. Consensus … Inclusion … Horizontalism … a fiercely green nation fighting the intrusion of Big Oil, with a heartfelt peacekeeping role to play among nations … a surge of this kind of energy into Canadian politics could ignite a mighty turnaround back to Canada’s spiritual roots. Imagine if hundreds of thousands of young Canadians were to pledge that as soon as the leading opposition parties – the New Democrats, the Liberals, the Greens – merge into a single new hybrid blue/green pirate party then they will rally all the intensity and ingenuity of their generation behind it …

The political will is there. A February 2012 survey by Leadnow.ca, an independent Canadian pro-democracy organization, found overwhelming support for coordination among opposition parties to oust Conservative incumbents and pass electoral reform. Eighty-five percent of respondents said they would join a new hybrid new political party that rallied behind this plan.

Can we shift Canada’s destiny back into gear? The recent student uprising in Quebec leads the way … let’s create a wave of revulsion against Harper’s right-wing arrogance … and then stir up some merger mania among the Greens, Liberals and NDPers.

At this historical moment when capitalism is in crisis and youthful revolts are breaking out everywhere, all sorts of weird and wonderful things are possible …

CHANGE THE POLITICAL DESTINY OF CANADA

Start the process rolling by floating the #UNIFYCANADA meme here:
greenparty.ca/contact
ndp.ca/contact/
liberal.ca/contact/

44 comments on the article “Political Powershift in Canada”

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Anonymous

This is the worst idea I have heard in a while. Yeah, what Canada needs is for everyone to throw all their energies into a political duopoly like the states!

What Canada actually needs is proportional representation and a radical left political party, now that the NDP has gone centrist.

Anonymous

Proportional representation will just put Canada on the same path as the failing countries of Europe.

No, thanks.

Anonymous

Whereas a merger will put us on the same path as the failing country to the south of us.

What we need is more choices and better representation for minority voices, not fewer choices and even poorer representation. A good system like MMP (Mixed Member Proportional) which is used in more responsible places like Germany and New Zealand is a lot better than a duopoly.

Uncle Sam

I already have Mexico and all the other third world countries below me, I don't need another one above me.

Anonymous

Before Canada can look forward to its future and how it would like it to be, it has to make amends for the countless numbers it has killed and caused to suffer horribly. That's the price the Universe exacts for a sadist jollies show. There are no free lunches. At least not yet proven to be.

Anonymous

What Canada needs is to abolish the monetary system and use technology to govern each region separately.

Anonymous

"use technology to govern each region separately."

Put a 'force field' around Quebec to keep those commie students and their pinko union fuehrers from getting out.

Uncle Sam

Actually in my Area51 base my scientist have come up with a way to convert and extract energy from commies peasants to run the electric grid. Don't let the Chinese know or they will freak.

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