In the last five polls released by the polling firms Ekos and Harris-Decima, the Greens have climbed precipitously in British Columbia which, when combined with the faltering Liberals, now places them in a statistical tie with the Liberals for the first time ever.
Still behind both the Tories and the New Democrats, the Greens nevertheless have very good reason to be happy whilst the Liberals have very good reason for concern.
Unfortunately for the Greens, however, this surge in support is not translating into any seats in BC in either the Paulitics arithmetic seat projection or the Paulitics geometric seat projection, however both do have them in several very strong second-place showing in BC.
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Click here for the newly updated Paulitics National Polling Resource.
Click here for the newly updated Paulitics Provincial/Regional Polling Resource.
Click here for the newly updated Paulitics 2008 Election Seat Projection.
While I am sympathetic to the green party’s goals and wish their supporters well, in this particular election it seems possible that their increased support might hand the conservatives a majority -which, unfortunately, would be likely to be the worst possible result for environmentalists. If ever we needed a reminder of how inane the first past the post electoral system is, we have one now.
Meanwhile …
“Former NDP Premiers Bob Rae and Ujjal Dosanjh teamed-up Friday to deliver a message to progressive voters: to fight for British Columbia and stop the Conservatives, the only choice for progressive voters is the Liberal Party of Canada.”
Arghhhh
Michael – I think that the “worst possible result for environmentalists” would be the one in which the Greens fail to ‘arrive’ as a significant political voice. I suspect that only when there is a constant, strong, Green Party presence will environmental issues really be recognized as vital political issues. Yes, the Liberals have presented important environmental ideas this election, but they will drop Dion AND environmentalism if they doesn’t bring them the political power they are used to. The Greens are the only party that was created based on ecological principles, and they are the ones that I trust to stick to them. When I look at the long-term, big picture, it’s Greens all the way for me.