12 Green MPs
Where we are
For an election that wasn't supposed to bring any major changes we sure do have a lot of them. The big change for us is of course the fact that we have a foot in the door on the House of Commons with our first elected Green MP.
The first step in determining how to move forward is to take a realistic look of where we are now. We are still in a category of our own but we have the potential to be in the same league as the Conservatives, Liberals and NDP.
Where to go
To me our number one priority is to build our parliamentary presence to 12 MPs. Only with full party status can we begin to rival the traditional parties in terms of political influence. It will take a lot of grass roots party building to get there. It may take 2 more elections to get there even if things go well.
How to get there
We'll need to deal with the financial constraints of losing the vote subsidy through better use of volunteers and broader based fund raising. But, the real challenge lies elsewhere. How do we get the most out of what we have to get to where we want to go? If we travel slowly in a straight line we'll get there sooner than going fast along a winding path. This requires planning, prioritization and execution. These are the things I do best, the things I've been doing in my business life for 25 years.
The newest card in our hand is one we still have to learn how to play. We now have an elected leader. Much of our progress will hinge on how successful Elizabeth and all of us can be at getting closer to portraying ourselves as one of 4 national parties as opposed to a party that had less than 4% of the vote in the last election. It's been done before and we've got 4 years until the next election to make it happen.
|
