Try to imagine how dramatically it would shake up Canada's political world if the Green Party and the NDP were to ever enter into some sort of strategic electoral alliance.
I'm asking because I've tried to imagine it, but I can't. It's just too crazy.
Yet, some people do think a Green-NDP alliance would not only work politically, but it'd also help to save our planet from the threat of global warming.
Not kidding.
For instance, 350 Canada, an environmental activist group, is aggressively pushing the notion that Greens and New Democrats should collude in the next Canadian federal election.
Such an alliance the group argues would create a political juggernaut of such power, that it could easily ram a green agenda through the House of Commons.
As 350 Canada campaign director Amara Possian recently told the media, "If (NDP leader) Jagmeet Singh and (Green Party leader) Annamie Paul came together and set aside all the partisan reasons that they don't want to do this, they could form something that is historic and unprecedented."
And what Possian wants the two parties to do is set up a plan whereby in ridings where one candidate has a good chance of winning, the party trailing in third or fourth place would throw its support behind the leading contender.
Essentially, in other words, one party would sacrifice itself for the greater climate good.
Based on its own "modelling", 350 Canada argues an NDP/Green alliance could win as many as 80 more seats.
Sounds good in theory, right?
Maybe, but as much as I hate to acid rain on an environmental parade, I'd like to point out that in reality this proposal has a snowball's chance in a globally warming world of actually working in practice.
Why do I say that?
Well, for starters, serious political party leaders will never urge their supporters and voters to cast ballots for another party.
After all, they work darn hard persuading and cajoling Canadians to join their cause, and it'd be extremely difficult to throw that all away just to help another party get elected.
And yes, I know, in the 2008 federal election, then Green Party leader Elizabeth May did urge her supporters to vote for whomever had the best chance to stop the Conservatives, but to my mind that was less about strategic voting and more about May trying to endear herself with the Liberal establishment.
Besides, as it turns out, despite May's tacit endorsement of them, the Liberals are, according to 350 Canada, not all that great when it comes to helping the environment.
Said Possian, "The Liberals have shown over the past five years that they aren't going to do what needs to be done. If Canadians want real climate action, they should not vote Liberal in the next election."
At any rate, even if Singh and Paul went along with this 350 Canada scheme, there's no guarantee the grassroots would obediently fall into line.
As a matter of fact (and this is something the media often fails to understand) most voters don't think tactically when deciding whom to support.
That's to say most regular people won't think to themselves, "I like party "A", but I'll vote for party "B" to stop party "C".
People just vote for politicians they like or against politicians, they don't. End of story.
Anyway, this is why I don't think an NDP-Green electoral collaboration is in the cards for the next election.
Heck, if anything, given the current wobbly state of these two parties, they're probably thinking less about forming grand coalitions and more about ensuring their own political survival.
Photo Credit: CBC News
