Richard Murray recently posted a very interesting proposal on the Green Party Blog which I thought was worth giving a little more light of day. The only problem that I see would be keeping “politics” out of the municipal arena, not that in many cases it is not bubbling beneath the surface already.
His proposal is to create the Canadian Municipal Green Party Association (CMPGA), which would have five objectives:
To encourage Canadians to become involved in the Canadian political system,2. To educate members of the CMGPA in the workings of their local municipal government,3. To train members on how to campaign for office,4. To train members on how to hold office, and5. To provide a grassroots communications forum for those involved in municipal politics……….
This Association would not be a political party. The CMGPA would exist to encourage and support the involvement at the municipal level of individuals who believe the fundamentals of the Global Greens, The Green Party of Canada and their provincial Green Party……………..
There are two reasons why the Green Party at both the provincial and federal levels should support the CMPGA:
Participatory Democracy is one of our fundamental principles, and
Municipal politics serves as a training and recruiting ground for both provincial and federal politics…………..
There would be three functions the CMPGA would carry out;
Encouragement to the general public to learn about and be active in Canadian politics.1. “While we would naturally prefer you to be a member of the Green Party, we consider it a victory if you decide to become active in any way.”2. To be an information and training resource to our members. This would primarily be through the Internet.3. To encourage our members to share information and help each other. This would be through forums on the Internet and through meetings.
Do read the whole thing, we do need fresh blood in our political system and this may be one way to help those interested in getting involved.
Update – See the CMGPA website.
This one would be a great one for discussion on our local Green blog, but is seems to MIA, where are you Shane? I do hope that the “maintenance” does not mean the end of ShaneJolly.com. Maybe we should resurrect Saugeen Community Blog
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2 comments:
Hey Rural, you and I do think alike: I love Richard's idea too and have offered to help out if I can (although I have no experience in politics myself). I'm sure willing to join up and learn anyway!
Now that's a good idea! Rural, I disagree with your statement about keeping politics out of the local arena. Politics IS and cannot be kept out of a stamp collectors club, let alone re-distribution of resources. If you meant Party politics, I can tell you as an avid follower of municipal politics, political party's would be very useful in helping to define local politicians, and keep them accountable. There are some very damned unsavoury people holding office at local levels, who campaign on good looks, and apple pie, and then rape the public at the behest of their backers. Party politics would put their sinecures at risk if they had to be held accountable to a Perty that actually paid attention to their voting record, which, unfortunately, the electorate cannot be bothered to do.
If the Green Party were to endorse such an association, then we would be a decade away from majority Green Gvt. Federally, and/or Provincially.
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