Green Party Platform, Part 1: "Someday Is Now"

OK, here it is, the first post in a series of... well, of however many there will be once I'm done, of my review of the Green Party Platform, which by the way, you can find here. This post will start out light by touching on the overall tone of the platform and its theme, "Someday Is Now."

The thing that strikes me about reading this platform, as opposed to others I've read currently and in the past, is how much of an emotional impact it carries. It is written in very positive and uplifting terms. This is very different from what I've previously experienced... most of the other party platforms I've seen read more like laundry lists of "to-do" items. Good examples of this strongly positive outlook can be found in the "Thinking Long-Term" and "What Winning Looks Like" sections:

Thinking Long Term

As you have probably discovered by now, the Green Party is focused on the future - not tomorrow or next year, but ten, twenty or one hundred years down the road. Long-term thinking leads to long-term solutions.

Supporting the Green Party is not a "protest" vote. It is a "life-affirming" vote. It affirms that we need representatives who will think long term. It affirms that our political system needs to adapt to a changing reality. As Albert Einstein once said, "We cannot solve our serious problems with the same mindsets that created them."

If elected, Green Party representatives will ensure that change happens today, for a better tomorrow. The Green Party fosters dialogue about the future and allows people with different perspectives to participate. We dont have all the answers, but we are committed to finding them.


What Winning Looks Like

We don't really think of ourselves as politicians, just as ordinary citizens making an extraordinary commitment. Accordingly, we don't measure success the same way politicians do. Here's what winning looks like to us...

When we introduce innovative ideas to voters, we win.
When we nurture a new generation of citizens to take up political activism, we win.
When other parties "borrow" our ideas and start thinking green, we win.
When we stand up for grassroots democracy, we win.
When we stay true to our principles, we win.
When our candidates speak from the heart, we win.
When people who have given up on politics are inspired to vote, we win.
When you vote for the Green Party, we will win - and so will you.

Something else that's readily noticeable when reading this platform is the efforts the writers go to differentiate the Green Party from the three traditional Canadian federal political parties. That starts right on the first page, with the first paragraph in the message by the leader, Jim Harris.

The Green Party is neither right nor left - we are in front. We are fiscally responsible, socially progressive and committed to environmental sustainability. And unlike traditional parties, we think long term. (emphasis mine)

These are good and necessary ideas for a new political party on the scene that's trying to make an impact. If you want people to read your platform, you have to make it readable... clearly the three traditional parties can learn a lesson from the Green Party's "Someday Is Now"!

In the next post, I'll start taking a more in-depth look at the actual policies offered up by the Green Party within their platform document.