Green Party of Ontario
Encyclopedia
The Green Party of Ontario (GPO) is a political party in Ontario
, Canada
. The party is led by Mike Schreiner
. It has never held any seats in the Ontario Legislative Assembly; however, the party did see significant gains in the 2007 provincial election
, earning 8% of the popular vote with some candidates placing second and third in their ridings. Previous polling has identified support to be between 6% and 12% of decided voters, and on 14 June 2008, the GPO hit a milestone of 13% support in polling, matching the Ontario New Democratic Party
for the first time.
Elections Ontario
records that in the 1999 provincial election
, the GPO fielded 58 candidates
, and became the fourth largest party in the province. In 2003, the party fielded its first nearly-full slate, 102 out of 103 candidates
, and received 2.8% of the vote. In 2007, in what many consider the breakthrough election for the GPO, the party fielded a full slate of 107 candidates
, receiving over 8.0% and nearly 355,000 votes. The GPO had gained the most in the 2007 election and was one of only two parties that gained a significant amount of support. The rise in its political fortunes coincided with the national rise in support for the Green Party of Canada
during the same period.
), and the entry of the West German Greens (Die Grünen
) into that country's legislature. The tiny, short-lived Small Party, named after E.F. Schumacher's book Small is Beautiful
, formed in the Maritimes in the mid to late 1970s, and was the first party in the Western Hemisphere related to the green movement. This party was founded by Elizabeth May
, now the leader of the Green Party of Canada
.
By the early 1980s, the idea of organized Green politics began to gain in international popularity, and in 1983 the Green Party of Ontario was registered with Elections Ontario
. Shortly after the GPO was registered it contested its first election, fielding nine candidates who collected a combined 5,300 votes or 0.14%. In the 1987 election
the party again ran nine candidates who fared worse, collecting 3,400 votes or 0.09%. In 1990, to the surprise of many, the GPO captured a much higher result, with 40 candidates capturing 30,400 votes or 0.75%.
as its first official leader. The GPO and their newly selected leader ran in their first election as an organized party in the 1995 provincial election
. However, even with a new leader and just three candidates less than 1990, the party lost more than half their support, falling to just 14,100 or 0.34%.
De Jong led the party through three election campaigns, gradually building party support from less than one percent in the early 1990s to just over 8% in the 2007 provincial election
.
In the 1999 provincial election
the party ran 57 candidates and collected 0.70% or 30,800 votes. With 17 more candidates the party fell 0.05% short of their 1990 result; however, this was a large increase compared to the previous election (1995). In addition, increased organization resulted in the addition of a Deputy Leader and a Shadow Cabinet. The first Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Ontario was Judy Greenwood-Speers. She served the party in this role from 1999-2002. Ms Greenwood-Speers was also the party's first Issue Advocate, continuously serving as the Advocate for Health and Long Term Care, and in the Senior's Secretariat from 1999 to today.
The 2003 provincial election was what many consider to be the first breakthrough for the Greens. Running 102 out of a possible 103 candidates the GPO was able to capture 126,700 votes, or 2.82%. The GPO placed ahead of the Ontario New Democratic Party
(NDP) in two ridings, and took fourth place in 92 others. Just eight candidates fared worse than fourth place.
De Jong announced his resignation as leader on May 16th, 2009, at the Green Party of Ontario Annual General Meeting. A leadership and policy convention was held November 13-15, 2009 in London, Ontario.
, and the September 2006 AGM in Lion's Head, Ontario, sweeping changes were approved to the party's governance structures. It was described as "the culmination of hundreds of hours of work that evolved out of a directive passed at the 2004 (AGM) in Cambridge. Included in the changes were the formation of a much larger Provincial Executive, which included two gender paritied representatives from each of six regions, gender paritied Deputy Leaders, and the creation of multiple functionary roles (a quasi civil service) separated from the Provincial Executive.
At the Party's 2006 Annual General Meeting (AGM) the Party adopted further changes to the existing Constitution that, amongst other things, reduced the size of the Provincial Council and renamed it the Provincial Council Executive. One of the first acts of the new Provincial Executive was to strike a hiring committee to bring on a full-time campaign manager in response to mounting internal pressures to ensure the party was ready for the October 2007 provincial election
.
In the run-up to the 2007 provincial election, the Greens' support climbed into the double-digits for the first time in party history. Although the party did not elect a member to the provincial legislature, they did increase their share of the popular vote to 8.1% (a gain of 5.3% from the 2003 election
), placed second in one riding (Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound
, with 33.1% compared to the PC incumbent winner's 46.7%), and took third place in a number of other ridings, ahead of candidates from previously elected parties. Shane Jolley
, the Green candidate for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, earned more votes than any Green candidate in Canadian history at that time.
The party had its 2007 AGM at an Easter Seals
camp near Perth on November 23 to the 25. It was the largest AGM in GPO history at that time with over 120 delegates and over 400 proxy votes. The GPO adopted changes to the constitution, many involving the provincial executive. A few directives to the executive also discussed at the AGM included party bilingualism and fundraising. The party voted in the new executive including a new president Lawson Hunter, while former president Ron Yurick was voted in as Northern male rep. Over 70% of the voting membership had also voted to re-elect party leader Frank de Jong
for another two years.
De Jong resigned as leader in 2009 and was replaced by Toronto entrepreneur Mike Schreiner
who was the sole candidate in the party's leadership race.
n Greens
. Although the party has generally been perceived as being left-wing, they have positioned themselves as an attractive alternative to all three parties in the legislature by combining ecologically and socially reformist policies with strong respect for the free market and entrepreneurship. Many key members are recruits from the former centre-right Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
, including Elio Di Iorio, who was a protégé of former Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark
, and Peter Elgie, son of former Ontario Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Robert Elgie
. The party's newly-chosen Chief Financial Officer, David Scrymgeour
, was the National Director of the former Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
Under Frank de Jong, the GPO has emphasized policies typical of both left- and right-wing parties. In the words of de Jong, the GPO tends to favour policies that are "socially progressive, fiscally conservative, and environmentally aware". As such, policies in areas such as education, health, environmental protection and social equity are notably progressive, while policies on income & property taxation, market regulation, and industrial subsidisation are more conservative in nature. Contrary to most other parties, the Greens prefer a model of decentralisation, where administration of local programmes/services (for example, local schools, hospitals, housing, and transport) are left to local government which is more responsive to local needs/realities, but where costs are not simply downloaded without the ability to raise local revenue (such as with previous Progressive Conservative governments). The party emphasizes interconnectivity between various policy areas (for example, health and the environment, or the environment and the economy).
and increase land use efficiency. Central to the GPO's tax policies is the concept of revenue neutrality, in which any new taxes (i.e., those on resources and consumption) are complemented by a reduction in other forms of taxation (generally income and corporate taxes). This mixture of libertarian/free-market income tax policies with a shift towards consumption/resource taxation is one of the clear differences between the Ontario Greens and the three other provincial parties. For example, while the NDP and to a lesser extent the Liberals aim to create social equity through re-distribution of already-earned income, and the Conservatives
do not necessarily view social equity to be the role of government, the Greens prefer allowing individuals/businesses to earn as much as they want and instead contribute to society by paying more for what they use (resources, energy) and the pollution/side-effects that they create. The GPO claims that this system is more fair and more economically desirable, because it only punishes individuals and businesses who operate without regard for society and the environment, while accentuating the ability of truly efficient and responsible businesses to prosper without hindrance.
In its 2007 Platform, the Green Party of Ontario advocated a full phasing-out of the Ontario Health Premium tax.
, education, and specifically the funding of religious schools, was a central issue. GPO policy calls for an end to government funding for the Catholic school system, and direct funding for the secular public system only, a merger that it claims would save millions of dollars in duplicate administrative costs. Other items include giving local school boards a say in funding allocation, ending standardized testing of students, and encouraging programmes such as physical education, environmental education, and a mandatory course in world religions. At the post-secondary level, the GPO proposes a tuition cap of $3 000 per year for university studies and $700 per year for college and increased funding for apprenticeship programmes.
. It is in favour of the Mixed Member Proportional representation system recommended by a Citizens Assembly in May 2007 and defeated in the Ontario referendum
in October 2007. This system would make the number of seats attributed to the party in a "members-at-large" section of the legislature approximately equal to the percentage of the vote won by the party in separate party vote. The GPO, which has never won a seat in the legislature, believes it would benefit greatly.
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The party is led by Mike Schreiner
Mike Schreiner
Mike Schreiner is the leader of the Green Party of Ontario . Professionally, he is a small business advocate, entrepreneur and food policy expert. Schreiner was the party's candidate in the Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock by-election on March 5, 2009...
. It has never held any seats in the Ontario Legislative Assembly; however, the party did see significant gains in the 2007 provincial election
Ontario general election, 2007
The Ontario general election of 2007 was held on October 10, 2007 to elect members of the 39th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada. The Liberals under Dalton McGuinty won the election with a majority government, winning 71 out of a possible 107 seats with 42.2% of the popular...
, earning 8% of the popular vote with some candidates placing second and third in their ridings. Previous polling has identified support to be between 6% and 12% of decided voters, and on 14 June 2008, the GPO hit a milestone of 13% support in polling, matching the Ontario New Democratic Party
Ontario New Democratic Party
The Ontario New Democratic Party or , formally known as New Democratic Party of Ontario, is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in October 1961, a few months after the federal party. The ONDP had its...
for the first time.
Elections Ontario
Elections Ontario
Elections Ontario is a non-partisan Agency of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. They work under the Chief Electoral Officer, an officer of the Legislative Assembly. responsible for the conduct of provincial elections.-External links:*...
records that in the 1999 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1999
An Ontario general election was held on June 3, 1999, to elect members of the 37th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, the GPO fielded 58 candidates
Green Party candidates, 1999 Ontario provincial election
The Green Party of Ontario ran 58 candidates in the 1999 provincial election, none of whom were elected. Some of these candidates have their own biography pages; information about others may be found here.-Hamilton West: Phyllis McColl:...
, and became the fourth largest party in the province. In 2003, the party fielded its first nearly-full slate, 102 out of 103 candidates
Green Party candidates, 2003 Ontario provincial election
The Green Party of Ontario fielded 102 candidates in the 2003 provincial election in Ontario, Canada, none of whom were elected. The only riding which the party did not contest was Oakville...
, and received 2.8% of the vote. In 2007, in what many consider the breakthrough election for the GPO, the party fielded a full slate of 107 candidates
Green Party candidates, 2007 Ontario provincial election
The Green Party of Ontario is a minor political party in Ontario, Canada running in the 2007 Ontario provincial election. The party received 2.8% of the popular vote in the 2003 election, and has yet to win a seat in the Legislature....
, receiving over 8.0% and nearly 355,000 votes. The GPO had gained the most in the 2007 election and was one of only two parties that gained a significant amount of support. The rise in its political fortunes coincided with the national rise in support for the Green Party of Canada
Green Party of Canada
The Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with 10,000–12,000 registered members as of October 2008. The Greens advance a broad multi-issue political platform that reflects its core values of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and...
during the same period.
Early years
The late 1960s is widely seen as the start of the global ecological movement, however it wasn't until the 1970s that this movement began to gain political and economic legitimacy, with advances such as the founding of the world's first green party (New Zealand's Values PartyValues Party
The Values Party, considered the world's first national-level environmentalist party that pre-dated any fashionable Green terminology, was established in 1972 at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, one of its initial leaders being Tony Brunt...
), and the entry of the West German Greens (Die Grünen
Alliance '90/The Greens
Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir...
) into that country's legislature. The tiny, short-lived Small Party, named after E.F. Schumacher's book Small is Beautiful
Small Is Beautiful
Small Is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered is a collection of essays by British economist E. F. Schumacher. The phrase "Small Is Beautiful" came from a phrase by his teacher Leopold Kohr...
, formed in the Maritimes in the mid to late 1970s, and was the first party in the Western Hemisphere related to the green movement. This party was founded by Elizabeth May
Elizabeth May
Elizabeth Evans May, OC, MP is an American-born Canadian Member of Parliament, environmentalist, writer, activist, lawyer, and the leader of the Green Party of Canada. She was the executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada from 1989 to 2006. She became a Canadian citizen in 1978.May's...
, now the leader of the Green Party of Canada
Green Party of Canada
The Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with 10,000–12,000 registered members as of October 2008. The Greens advance a broad multi-issue political platform that reflects its core values of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and...
.
By the early 1980s, the idea of organized Green politics began to gain in international popularity, and in 1983 the Green Party of Ontario was registered with Elections Ontario
Elections Ontario
Elections Ontario is a non-partisan Agency of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. They work under the Chief Electoral Officer, an officer of the Legislative Assembly. responsible for the conduct of provincial elections.-External links:*...
. Shortly after the GPO was registered it contested its first election, fielding nine candidates who collected a combined 5,300 votes or 0.14%. In the 1987 election
Ontario general election, 1987
The Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with a large majority...
the party again ran nine candidates who fared worse, collecting 3,400 votes or 0.09%. In 1990, to the surprise of many, the GPO captured a much higher result, with 40 candidates capturing 30,400 votes or 0.75%.
Frank de Jong years
It wasn't until 1993, however, that the party began to properly organize itself, electing Frank de JongFrank de Jong
Frank de Jong, is a Canadian politician, environmentalist and elementary school teacher at Fern Avenue Public School...
as its first official leader. The GPO and their newly selected leader ran in their first election as an organized party in the 1995 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1995
The Ontario general election of 1995 was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the 36th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada...
. However, even with a new leader and just three candidates less than 1990, the party lost more than half their support, falling to just 14,100 or 0.34%.
De Jong led the party through three election campaigns, gradually building party support from less than one percent in the early 1990s to just over 8% in the 2007 provincial election
Ontario general election, 2007
The Ontario general election of 2007 was held on October 10, 2007 to elect members of the 39th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada. The Liberals under Dalton McGuinty won the election with a majority government, winning 71 out of a possible 107 seats with 42.2% of the popular...
.
In the 1999 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1999
An Ontario general election was held on June 3, 1999, to elect members of the 37th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
the party ran 57 candidates and collected 0.70% or 30,800 votes. With 17 more candidates the party fell 0.05% short of their 1990 result; however, this was a large increase compared to the previous election (1995). In addition, increased organization resulted in the addition of a Deputy Leader and a Shadow Cabinet. The first Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Ontario was Judy Greenwood-Speers. She served the party in this role from 1999-2002. Ms Greenwood-Speers was also the party's first Issue Advocate, continuously serving as the Advocate for Health and Long Term Care, and in the Senior's Secretariat from 1999 to today.
The 2003 provincial election was what many consider to be the first breakthrough for the Greens. Running 102 out of a possible 103 candidates the GPO was able to capture 126,700 votes, or 2.82%. The GPO placed ahead of the Ontario New Democratic Party
Ontario New Democratic Party
The Ontario New Democratic Party or , formally known as New Democratic Party of Ontario, is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in October 1961, a few months after the federal party. The ONDP had its...
(NDP) in two ridings, and took fourth place in 92 others. Just eight candidates fared worse than fourth place.
De Jong announced his resignation as leader on May 16th, 2009, at the Green Party of Ontario Annual General Meeting. A leadership and policy convention was held November 13-15, 2009 in London, Ontario.
Recent history
Throughout 2006 there was a move toward major constitutional changes in the party, led by Executive Council Member-at-Large (former GPO President) Ron Yurick. During the May Annual Policy Conference in TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, and the September 2006 AGM in Lion's Head, Ontario, sweeping changes were approved to the party's governance structures. It was described as "the culmination of hundreds of hours of work that evolved out of a directive passed at the 2004 (AGM) in Cambridge. Included in the changes were the formation of a much larger Provincial Executive, which included two gender paritied representatives from each of six regions, gender paritied Deputy Leaders, and the creation of multiple functionary roles (a quasi civil service) separated from the Provincial Executive.
At the Party's 2006 Annual General Meeting (AGM) the Party adopted further changes to the existing Constitution that, amongst other things, reduced the size of the Provincial Council and renamed it the Provincial Council Executive. One of the first acts of the new Provincial Executive was to strike a hiring committee to bring on a full-time campaign manager in response to mounting internal pressures to ensure the party was ready for the October 2007 provincial election
Ontario general election, 2007
The Ontario general election of 2007 was held on October 10, 2007 to elect members of the 39th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada. The Liberals under Dalton McGuinty won the election with a majority government, winning 71 out of a possible 107 seats with 42.2% of the popular...
.
In the run-up to the 2007 provincial election, the Greens' support climbed into the double-digits for the first time in party history. Although the party did not elect a member to the provincial legislature, they did increase their share of the popular vote to 8.1% (a gain of 5.3% from the 2003 election
Ontario general election, 2003
The Ontario general election of 2003 was held on October 2, 2003, to elect the 103 members of the 38th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
), placed second in one riding (Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound
Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound (provincial electoral district)
Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound is a provincial electoral district in western Ontario, Canada. It elects one member to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario....
, with 33.1% compared to the PC incumbent winner's 46.7%), and took third place in a number of other ridings, ahead of candidates from previously elected parties. Shane Jolley
Shane Jolley
Shane Jolley is a Canadian politician, previously the male deputy leader for the Green Party of Ontario. Jolley defeated three other candidates to be elected to the position at the party's annual convention in 2008, and served alongside Judy Smith Torrie, who is the party's female deputy leader.In...
, the Green candidate for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, earned more votes than any Green candidate in Canadian history at that time.
The party had its 2007 AGM at an Easter Seals
Easter Seals (Canada)
In Canada, Easter Seals is a group of charitable organizations which provide opportunities for children with physical and/or mental disabilities. Founded in 1922 by a group of ten Rotary Clubs, it sought to emulate the success of the American Easter Seals program. In 1945, the first Canadian Easter...
camp near Perth on November 23 to the 25. It was the largest AGM in GPO history at that time with over 120 delegates and over 400 proxy votes. The GPO adopted changes to the constitution, many involving the provincial executive. A few directives to the executive also discussed at the AGM included party bilingualism and fundraising. The party voted in the new executive including a new president Lawson Hunter, while former president Ron Yurick was voted in as Northern male rep. Over 70% of the voting membership had also voted to re-elect party leader Frank de Jong
Frank de Jong
Frank de Jong, is a Canadian politician, environmentalist and elementary school teacher at Fern Avenue Public School...
for another two years.
De Jong resigned as leader in 2009 and was replaced by Toronto entrepreneur Mike Schreiner
Mike Schreiner
Mike Schreiner is the leader of the Green Party of Ontario . Professionally, he is a small business advocate, entrepreneur and food policy expert. Schreiner was the party's candidate in the Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock by-election on March 5, 2009...
who was the sole candidate in the party's leadership race.
Policies
The Green Party of Ontario shares the same Ten Key Values as other North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n Greens
Green politics
Green politics is a political ideology that aims for the creation of an ecologically sustainable society rooted in environmentalism, social liberalism, and grassroots democracy...
. Although the party has generally been perceived as being left-wing, they have positioned themselves as an attractive alternative to all three parties in the legislature by combining ecologically and socially reformist policies with strong respect for the free market and entrepreneurship. Many key members are recruits from the former centre-right Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
, including Elio Di Iorio, who was a protégé of former Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...
, and Peter Elgie, son of former Ontario Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Robert Elgie
Robert Elgie
Robert Goldwin Elgie is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1977 to 1985, and was a cabinet minister in the Progressive Conservative governments of Bill Davis and Frank Miller. His father, Goldwin Elgie, was also a Conservative Ontario...
. The party's newly-chosen Chief Financial Officer, David Scrymgeour
David Scrymgeour
T. David Scrymgeour is a Canadian entrepreneur. He is the founder of a group of companies in the information and training industries. Politically he has worked with the Green Party of Canada, the Green Party of Ontario, the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and the Progressive Conservative...
, was the National Director of the former Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
Under Frank de Jong, the GPO has emphasized policies typical of both left- and right-wing parties. In the words of de Jong, the GPO tends to favour policies that are "socially progressive, fiscally conservative, and environmentally aware". As such, policies in areas such as education, health, environmental protection and social equity are notably progressive, while policies on income & property taxation, market regulation, and industrial subsidisation are more conservative in nature. Contrary to most other parties, the Greens prefer a model of decentralisation, where administration of local programmes/services (for example, local schools, hospitals, housing, and transport) are left to local government which is more responsive to local needs/realities, but where costs are not simply downloaded without the ability to raise local revenue (such as with previous Progressive Conservative governments). The party emphasizes interconnectivity between various policy areas (for example, health and the environment, or the environment and the economy).
Taxation
GPO policy proposes a concept known as green tax shifting, which it classifies under the broad context of ecological fiscal reform. In general, the party proposes gradual but significant reductions in all income and corporate taxes (or taxes on so-called "earned income"), funded by the introduction of new resource-based taxes applied at the point of entry into the economy (for example, carbon taxes). The Green Party also proposes introduction of a system of land value taxation, which would replace the current value assessment-based property tax system and would be meant to discourage urban sprawlUrban sprawl
Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, high segregation of uses Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a...
and increase land use efficiency. Central to the GPO's tax policies is the concept of revenue neutrality, in which any new taxes (i.e., those on resources and consumption) are complemented by a reduction in other forms of taxation (generally income and corporate taxes). This mixture of libertarian/free-market income tax policies with a shift towards consumption/resource taxation is one of the clear differences between the Ontario Greens and the three other provincial parties. For example, while the NDP and to a lesser extent the Liberals aim to create social equity through re-distribution of already-earned income, and the Conservatives
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
do not necessarily view social equity to be the role of government, the Greens prefer allowing individuals/businesses to earn as much as they want and instead contribute to society by paying more for what they use (resources, energy) and the pollution/side-effects that they create. The GPO claims that this system is more fair and more economically desirable, because it only punishes individuals and businesses who operate without regard for society and the environment, while accentuating the ability of truly efficient and responsible businesses to prosper without hindrance.
Health
The Greens base their health policies on prevention, and claim to consider health in areas such as organic agriculture, active transportation, urban planning, and education. In particular, party policy closely links the areas of disease prevention and environmental health, with policies such a ban on cosmetic pesticides, a Cancer Prevention Act, and doubling funding for the Ministry of Health Promotion. Policies on health care include expanding the Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) system, increasing support for multidisciplinary clinics (those with doctors, nurses, psychologists, dieticians, and other health care professionals), and increasing support for midwifery, along with a number of administrative reforms. GPO policy emphasizes a reduction in health care costs through avoidance of illness and expansion of alternative access models (such as CCACs), rather than simply closing facilities or increasing expenditures.In its 2007 Platform, the Green Party of Ontario advocated a full phasing-out of the Ontario Health Premium tax.
Education
During the 2007 provincial electionOntario general election, 2007
The Ontario general election of 2007 was held on October 10, 2007 to elect members of the 39th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada. The Liberals under Dalton McGuinty won the election with a majority government, winning 71 out of a possible 107 seats with 42.2% of the popular...
, education, and specifically the funding of religious schools, was a central issue. GPO policy calls for an end to government funding for the Catholic school system, and direct funding for the secular public system only, a merger that it claims would save millions of dollars in duplicate administrative costs. Other items include giving local school boards a say in funding allocation, ending standardized testing of students, and encouraging programmes such as physical education, environmental education, and a mandatory course in world religions. At the post-secondary level, the GPO proposes a tuition cap of $3 000 per year for university studies and $700 per year for college and increased funding for apprenticeship programmes.
Electoral reform
The GPO is a strong supporter of electoral reformElectoral reform
Electoral reform is change in electoral systems to improve how public desires are expressed in election results. That can include reforms of:...
. It is in favour of the Mixed Member Proportional representation system recommended by a Citizens Assembly in May 2007 and defeated in the Ontario referendum
Ontario electoral reform referendum, 2007
An Ontario electoral reform referendum was held on October 10, 2007, in an attempt to establish a mixed member proportional representation system for elections to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario...
in October 2007. This system would make the number of seats attributed to the party in a "members-at-large" section of the legislature approximately equal to the percentage of the vote won by the party in separate party vote. The GPO, which has never won a seat in the legislature, believes it would benefit greatly.
Party leaders
| Picture | Name | Term start | Term end | Riding(s) contested as Leader | Notes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Frank De Jong Frank de Jong Frank de Jong, is a Canadian politician, environmentalist and elementary school teacher at Fern Avenue Public School... |
1993 | 2009 |
|
First Leader, elected in 1993 Green Party of Ontario leadership elections In the decade following its founding, the Ontario Green Party did not have a formal leadership structure, and was run in a very decentralized manner... , and re-elected 2001 Green Party of Ontario leadership election, 2001 A Green Party of Ontario leadership election took place in 2001 when Frank de Jong's leadership was challenged by GPO deputy leader Judy Greenwood-Speers of Waterloo, Ontario.... |
||||||||
| Mike Schreiner Mike Schreiner Mike Schreiner is the leader of the Green Party of Ontario . Professionally, he is a small business advocate, entrepreneur and food policy expert. Schreiner was the party's candidate in the Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock by-election on March 5, 2009... |
November 2009 | Incumbent | Simcoe—Grey Simcoe—Grey (provincial electoral district) Simcoe—Grey is a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1999.... (2011 Ontario general election, 2011 The 40th Ontario general election was held on October 6, 2011 to elect members of the 40th Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The Ontario Liberal Party will form a minority government, with the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario serving as the Official Opposition and the Ontario New... ) |
Elected Leader in 2009 Green Party of Ontario leadership election, 2009 The Green Party of Ontario leadership election took place November 13–15, 2009 in London, Ontario.Longtime Green Party of Ontario leader Frank de Jong told the GPO convention on May 16, 2009, that he would be stepping down as leader of the party... , with no challenging candidates |
Election results
| Election | Number of candidates | Candidates elected | Total votes | % of popular vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 Ontario general election, 1985 The Ontario general election of 1985 was held on May 2, 1985, to elect members of the 33rd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada... |
9 out of 125 | - | 5,345 | 0.14% |
| 1987 Ontario general election, 1987 The Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with a large majority... |
9 out of 130 | - | 3,398 | 0.09% |
| 1990 Ontario general election, 1990 The Ontario general election of 1990 was held on September 6, 1990, to elect members of the 35th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada.... |
40 out of 130 | - | 30,097 | 0.75% |
| 1995 Ontario general election, 1995 The Ontario general election of 1995 was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the 36th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada... |
37 out of 130 | - | 14,108 | 0.34% |
| 1999 Ontario general election, 1999 An Ontario general election was held on June 3, 1999, to elect members of the 37th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.... |
57 out of 103 | - | 30,749 | 0.70% |
| 2003 Ontario general election, 2003 The Ontario general election of 2003 was held on October 2, 2003, to elect the 103 members of the 38th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.... |
102 out of 103 | - | 126,651 | 2.82% |
| 2007 Ontario general election, 2007 The Ontario general election of 2007 was held on October 10, 2007 to elect members of the 39th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada. The Liberals under Dalton McGuinty won the election with a majority government, winning 71 out of a possible 107 seats with 42.2% of the popular... |
107 out of 107 | - | 354,897 | 8.02% |
| 2011 Ontario general election, 2011 The 40th Ontario general election was held on October 6, 2011 to elect members of the 40th Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The Ontario Liberal Party will form a minority government, with the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario serving as the Official Opposition and the Ontario New... |
107 out of 107 | - | 126,567 | 2.94% |
See also
- List of Ontario general elections
- List of Canadian political parties
- List of Green Party of Ontario candidates
- List of Green party leaders in Canada
- Green Party of Ontario candidates, 2011 Ontario provincial election