Secret deals, heavy-handed “talking points” and internal emails show the friction within Elizabeth May’s Green party
Monday, October 22nd, 2007Macleans.ca staff, Macleans Magazine
This week’s Maclean’s investigation of Green leader Elizabeth May refers to the Green Party of Canada as a “phosphate-free soap opera.” And there’s no more telling indicator of internal friction than party member willingness to leak confidential emails.
Most of the missives received by Maclean’s pertained to the fallout from the controversial agreement between Elizabeth May and Stéphane Dion that they would not run candidates in one another’s ridings in the next federal election. Soon after the April 12 announcement was made, a talking-points directive was sent out about how to field questions. Other correspondence reflects members’ concerns that May flouted protocol by not receiving formal approval from the executive council before announcing the arrangement.
Also forwarded were May’s responses to party members on various topics—including strategic voting, the defection of former Green Briony Penn to the Liberals and the “corrupt Liberal establishment.” Through it all May remains resilient buoyed by the 10 lessons learned at her mother’s knee, included in her 2006 activism primer How to Save the World in Your Spare Time.
