Our series on 'Priming the Pump' or setting the stage for our coverage of the 2011 provincial election on November 7 continues with an installment on the Green Party of Saskatchewan.
Compared to other political parties in the province, the Greens have a relatively new history in this province. The forerunner of the Green Party of Saskatchewan was the New Green Alliance, founded on Earth day in Regina in 1998. The founders of the party had been meeting for some time; many of the individuals were former New Democrats who had grown extremely disenchanted with the Romanow Government. 1998 was in the middle of the Romanow Government's second term, and the unhappiness among left-wing political activists with the NDP had reached a boil. The first election run for the NGA was not that impressive - they fielded 16 candidates but won 1 percent of the vote. In 2003 the Greens fielded 27 candidates but only got 0.5% of the vote. In 2007 the rechristened Green Party of Saskatchewan ran 48 out of 58 candidates and managed to secure 2 percent of the vote.
The party was going nowhere for the first few years of its existence. That all appeared to change with the arrival of Sandra Finley in the party's leadership. Finley became leader in 2006 and started a major organizational drive within the party that resulted in a near full slate of candidates for the party. Finley left the leadership to face a court challenge regarding the Canadian census. Finley refused to fill out the long-form census in 2006 - she ended up being convicted but served no jail time.
There are signs that the organizational push from 2007 has grown within the Green Party. The party is currently about 15 candidates short of a full slate, and actual nomination meetings were held to install several of the candidates. In the past all Green candidates were simply appointed due to a lack of on-the-ground organization for the Greens. And according to Facebook some of the Regina candidates are holding fundraising events in lead up to the election. No such events were held in the past. So for the first time, the Green Party of Saskatchewan is starting to take the form of a bonafide political party and not a small rabble of fringe protestors.
It also appears that by the time voters cast their ballots on November 7, the Saskatchewan Greens may become the province's new third party based on total ballots cast. As mentioned before the party could end up running a full slate of candidates this time, with many of the candidates running actually on-the-ground campaigns and not merely being parachute candidates. It was also revealed last week that the Saskatchewan Liberals only plan to run about 15 candidates this fall. Thus the Greens have an opportunity to move up the province's political food chain, at least in rankings.
However, many significant obstacles stand in the party's way. The Greens lack a strong media presence; they appear in the news sporadically, and usually focus on issues of narrow or marginal importance like opposition to nuclear energy. The party's constitution is also flawed in that it contains provision for the annual election of a new leader. Thus it has been very difficult for any of the party's leaders to establish a presence or make any real progress in building the party. Until recently the Greens lacked individuals with organizational drive and fundraising experience. And the collective wisdom of the party's decision makers is at best befuddled and at worst incompetent, given the recent decision to allow Brendan Cross to become a prospective candidate for the party in Regina Rosemont.
With the enormous unpopularity of Dwain Lingenfelter and the Saskatchewan NDP heading into this election, the Greens could make some substantial gains in this election. However to fully capitalize on the situation the Greens will need to run a full slate of candidates, and the party's decision makers need to learn how non-members perceive their party and the decisions they make. If the wind is truly in the party's sails, perhaps they could get 5 percent of the vote this time.
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