Recently Larissa Shasko, resigned as leader of the Green Party of Saskatchewan and joined my campaign team. Thinking of the differences between the NDP and Green Party, our different approaches and impacts, reminded me of a discussion I had with my oldest daughter.
When she was four years old, she asked me why we had an orange election sign on our front lawn. “Hmm,” I thought, “How does one put this in terms that a four year old can understand?” I explained that people were choosing which ‘team’ gets to be the government and that we were on the orange team. I explained that there were other teams like the blue team, the red team and the green team. That answer temporarily satisfied her quest for knowledge but a few days later she wanted to know the difference between the teams. Another difficult explanation! The explanation of the green team must have been quite compelling for her because a few years later during the last provincial election, she asked “Daddy, why are we on the orange team instead of the green team?”
“Why does she ask such difficult questions?” I thought. I explained that the orange team was concerned about protecting the environment where we live, and that the orange team had been working to protect the environment for a long time before there ever was a green team. I explained that the green team had some very good ideas about how to protect the environment and that the orange team shared many of those ideas, but understood that there were other important things too — like making sure everyone is able to feed their family, find a house to live in and be able to go to the hospital if they need to. I also explained that the green team didn’t have much chance of getting elected and that the orange team did and that it was better to focus our efforts on helping the orange team to win.
That was four years ago. Today not much has changed. The orange team continues to demonstrate a commitment to a greener economy, such as the commitments to fund renewable energy and recycling when elected. With candidates like myself and Peter Prebble, the orange team has some very credible advocates for a green economy. The green team has done some admirable work to draw attention to some of the environmental issues facing us, but has little chance of getting anyone elected, let alone forming government.
What I didn’t discuss with my daughter was what I believe is a fundamental flaw in the approach of the Green Party. This was illustrated by the Green Party’s policy document in the last federal election. While it was an important contribution, it lacked a basic understanding of the need to address economic inequalities. People who are struggling to feed their family or find a decent home are generally more concerned about the price of gas than they are about the carbon coming out the exhaust pipe. They’re more concerned with the price of their food than whether it was grown in a sustainable method. Coincidentally, those who have great wealth also have the least to be concerned about if the environment is not protected – they will always be able to find a safe place to live and be able to buy healthy food and clean water. They also have the most to lose from a green economy because the transition threatens their wealth and power. And make no mistake, those who have great wealth never part with their wealth or their power easily. And so, while protecting the environment remains one of my principal objectives, I chose the orange team because I understand that the status quo of the carbon economy and the economic inequalities that exist in it are inherently linked.
Daddy, why are we on the orange team instead of the green team?
Recently Larissa Shasko, resigned as leader of the Green Party of Saskatchewan and joined my campaign team. Thinking of the differences between the NDP and Green Party, our different approaches and impacts, reminded me of a discussion I had with my oldest daughter.
When she was four years old, she asked me why we had an orange election sign on our front lawn. “Hmm,” I thought, “How does one put this in terms that a four year old can understand?” I explained that people were choosing which ‘team’ gets to be the government and that we were on the orange team. I explained that there were other teams like the blue team, the red team and the green team. That answer temporarily satisfied her quest for knowledge but a few days later she wanted to know the difference between the teams. Another difficult explanation! The explanation of the green team must have been quite compelling for her because a few years later during the last provincial election, she asked “Daddy, why are we on the orange team instead of the green team?”
“Why does she ask such difficult questions?” I thought. I explained that the orange team was concerned about protecting the environment where we live, and that the orange team had been working to protect the environment for a long time before there ever was a green team. I explained that the green team had some very good ideas about how to protect the environment and that the orange team shared many of those ideas, but understood that there were other important things too — like making sure everyone is able to feed their family, find a house to live in and be able to go to the hospital if they need to. I also explained that the green team didn’t have much chance of getting elected and that the orange team did and that it was better to focus our efforts on helping the orange team to win.
That was four years ago. Today not much has changed. The orange team continues to demonstrate a commitment to a greener economy, such as the commitments to fund renewable energy and recycling when elected. With candidates like myself and Peter Prebble, the orange team has some very credible advocates for a green economy. The green team has done some admirable work to draw attention to some of the environmental issues facing us, but has little chance of getting anyone elected, let alone forming government.
What I didn’t discuss with my daughter was what I believe is a fundamental flaw in the approach of the Green Party. This was illustrated by the Green Party’s policy document in the last federal election. While it was an important contribution, it lacked a basic understanding of the need to address economic inequalities. People who are struggling to feed their family or find a decent home are generally more concerned about the price of gas than they are about the carbon coming out the exhaust pipe. They’re more concerned with the price of their food than whether it was grown in a sustainable method. Coincidentally, those who have great wealth also have the least to be concerned about if the environment is not protected – they will always be able to find a safe place to live and be able to buy healthy food and clean water. They also have the most to lose from a green economy because the transition threatens their wealth and power. And make no mistake, those who have great wealth never part with their wealth or their power easily. And so, while protecting the environment remains one of my principal objectives, I chose the orange team because I understand that the status quo of the carbon economy and the economic inequalities that exist in it are inherently linked.