Green Party of the Same Colour

In a recent and rather odd opinion piece from the Saskatoon Star Phoenix newspaper in Saskatchewan, columnist Murray Mandryk attempts to make the case that the Green Party of Saskatchewan is a "Green party of a different colour." We commonly see rebranding of political parties in the mainstream media as elections approach, but some of the claims in this article don't appear to ring true.

Take this claim by Mandryk about the Green Party of Saskatchewan:

"It's not even preaching the traditional 'green' environmental issues, like the evils of the Keystone XL pipeline and greenhouse gas emissions."

Really? When I fact-checked this claim, I found that just last November (i.e., less than one year ago), the leader of the Green Party of Saskatchewan -- Victor Lau -- co-authored a letter to the editor in the Swift Current Southwest Booster newspaper with Ashu Solo (the CEO of the Saskatoon Provincial Green Party Association) dedicated entirely to preaching the evils of greenhouse gas emissions. Here is Lau's letter:

"On one hand, the Saskatchewan Party and Premier Brad Wall are giving $250,000 of Saskatchewan taxpayer money to the Philippines for disaster relief from Typhoon Haiyan. On the other hand, the Sask Party and Wall are supporting disastrous environmental policies that greatly contribute to global warming, which causes natural disasters and increases their severity. This is clearly hypocritical. Warmer oceans result in more intense storms. This may be the strongest typhoon to ever make landfall. After blaming the lack of action on global warming for fueling the typhoon, Philippine envoy Naderev Sano has gone on a hunger strike during United Nations climate talks until there is a meaningful outcome.

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Saskatchewan should focus on energy conservation and commit itself to developing renewable energy resources. Saskatchewan should stop supporting the Keystone XL Pipeline, eliminate fossil fuel subsidies, eliminate coal-fired electricity, outlaw venting and flaring, ban fracking, phase out uranium mining, and switch to LEDs and better controllers for street lights. Whereas the government has been compensating for the effects of global warming, it should curb the causes of global warming." I see statements by the Green Party's leader such as "Saskatchewan should stop supporting the Keystone XL Pipeline," "the Sask Party and Wall are supporting disastrous environmental policies that greatly contribute to global warming," and "whereas the government has been compensating for the effects of global warming, it should curb the causes of global warming," among others. These appear to entirely contradict Mandryk's claims. Mandryk's column also quotes John Murney, the personal assistant to Saskatchewan Green Party leader Victor Lau and co-ordinator of the party's campaign for the upcoming provincial election, with the following:

"We don't want to argue with people. I think that would be a mistake. People are tired of being told what to do and what to think."

This sounds like more of a libertarian type of political philosophy, which seems difficult to reconcile with the types of definitive statements appearing in "Principles of the Green Party of Saskatchewan," of which but a few examples are given below:

"This requires: that we learn to live within the ecological and resource limits of the planet; that we protect animal and plant life, and life itself that is sustained by the natural elements: earth, water, air and sun; [and] where knowledge is limited, that we take the path of caution, in order to secure the continued abundance of the resources of the planet for present and future generations ... We believe that to achieve sustainability, and in order to provide for the needs of present and future generations within the finite resources of the earth, continuing growth in global consumption, population and material inequity must be halted and reversed ... This requires ensuring that the rich limit their consumption to allow the poor their fair share of the earth's resources ... implementing mechanisms to tax, as well as regulating, speculative financial flows."

These party principles are a textbook definition of telling people "what to do and what to think." In this case, they must act and think sustainably -- however that is defined. Isn't the halting and reversal of "continuing growth in global consumption, population and material inequity" going to require telling someone "what to do and what to think"? Of course it will, as would putting in place mechanisms to ensure "that the rich limit their consumption to allow the poor their fair share of the earth's resources." By definition, "implementing mechanisms to tax, as well as regulating, speculative financial flows" is telling someone what to do. The Green Party of Saskatchewan also states in no uncertain terms on its website that its principles "are aligned with the principles of the Global Greens [the partnership of the world's Green parties and political movements, working cooperatively to implement the Global Greens Charter]," which -- together with the contradictions discussed above -- sounds like it is a green party of generally the same color as the rest, and certainly doesn't agree with claims that the party is "not even preaching the traditional 'green' environmental issues."