Complete with backbiting comments from anonymous party insiders:
May’s praise of [Liberal leader Stéphane] Dion rankles many Greens. As does her constant vilification of Harper. Her comment last March that Harper’s stance on the environment is “a grievance worse than Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of the Nazis” created a furor. May said she was just paraphrasing a British journalist. A party insider sees the incident as telling of May’s intransigence. “She threw gas on it. She could have smoothed it over as any professional politician would have, but she prefers to fight. She turned a three- or four-day story into a three-week story by not finding her graceful exit and moving on.”
That’s a salaciously nasty bit, but it’s a serious piece Anne Kingston has written, shedding a lot of light on the ongoing civil unrest in the Green Party of Canada. Very, very worthwhile.
The EcoLibertarian 
Also very very misleading, from my perspective. It’s telling that all of the people with positive things to say are on record, and even those with some constructive criticism give their names. The real nasty stuff comes from anonymous “former” greens, and doesn’t ring true. I continue to enjoy working closely with Elizabeth as a member of Shadow Cabinet, and am proud to have her as leader.
I think the main thing this article proves is that we’re now being taken seriously as a party (as you say, it comes complete with this “anonymous party insider” garbage that other parties have to put up with).
Another recent (and shorter) profile of Elizabeth:
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=d1f7ded0-c6ad-424e-ae1d-8d9cdbca87c5&p=1
Yes.
The sources are not anonymous, they are known to the reporter. They simply are not identified for the purposes of the article.
Will Ms May’s leadership style prove sustainable for long term for the GPC? Or will the party continue to chew its people and principles up and spit them out like so much stale gum? Only time will tell!
STAY TUNED for the next episode of as the Green Stomach Turns!
Per the leadership numbers from FAR & WIDE:
Stephen Harper remains the most popular choice for prime minister @ 37% support – up 1 point since June, Jack Layton is at 19%, down 1 point. Stéphane Dion is at 12%, down 4 points. Elizabeth May is at 4% -down 1%. http://farnwide.blogspot.com/2007/10/paper-tiger.html
Stockwell didn’t have what it took to be leader but he got elected. Is Sister Elizabeth electable? But is she a handicap to growing the party?
Was hitching the Green Party to the Dion Liberals so that May has a chance of winning a seat and a pension a smart move? Now the Greens are having to provide cover for the floundering Liberals, eg. the retreat on Kyoto after the throne speech. Hardly principled!
And what if the Liberal voters in Central Nova aren’t for legalizing pot or pulling out of NATO? It’s a little presumptuous of the party elite to dictate to the citizenry where they are to cast their votes. Hardly principled!
Has any of this served to build the Green Party in the long term?
Green Party policy calls for a review not a “pulling out” of NATO membership. Given the numerous changes that have occurred over the last decade this seems a very reasonable position. What happens in Afghanistan over the next year will be relevant to such an analysis.
Regards, Eric Walton – GPC International Affairs Critic