Political Parties and the Electoral Alliance

People who belong to a political party are encouraged to raise the issues of climate change, electoral alliance and proportional representation in their own party. The list below was circulated earlier in 2012 to candidates for the NDP leadership. A list for Liberals is being prepared.

Questions to Candidates for the NDP Leadership

  1. What priority would you give to climate change in the House and in other public venues if elected leader of the NDP (and therefore Leader of the Opposition)?
  2. Do you support a moratorium on tar sands development?
  3. What measures would you advance to prevent or stop the building of pipelines to carry bitumen products for export?
  4. What regulatory measures would you advance to reduce GHG emissions, what form of carbon pricing or carbon tax?
  5. Will you commit to developing a proposal for proportional representation to bring to the next federal election campaign as a priority for any new non-Conservative Parliament?
  6. How open are you to negotiating an electoral alliance with the Liberal and Green Parties and the Bloc Québécois for the next federal election (that is, to agree on a common candidate in ridings that could be taken away from the Conservatives)?
  7. Do you support the proposal for an electoral alliance to include other social justice issues, such as a more progressive income tax, the institution of estate taxes, an end to the prison building program, repeal of the new mandatory sentencing provisions, the establishment of a national child care program and new measures to end child poverty?
  8. Do you support a ban on the development of shale gas projects?
  9. Are there other environmental priorities you would favour being included in a progressive electoral alliance for 2015?

Signed by the following individual NDP members:

Lyn Adamson (St Paul’s)
John Bessai (Trinity Spadina)
Angela Bischoff (Toronto Danforth)
Michael Bradfield (Halifax)
Michael Butler (Saanich--Gulf Islands)
Cynthia Callard (Ottawa Centre)
Maxwell Cameron (Vancouver Quadra)
Kate Chung (St Paul’s)
Donna Cochrane (Saanich--Gulf Islands)
Marjorie Cohen (Burnaby--Douglas)
George Ehring (Saanich--Gulf Islands)
Kathryn Harrison (Vancouver Kingsway)
Barbara Jack (Colchester--Musquodoboit Valley)
Elayne Lockhart (Toronto Danforth)
Diane Marshall (Toronto Danforth)
Jane Martin (Toronto Centre)
Lynn McDonald (Toronto Centre)
Marion Pape (Saanich--Gulf Islands)
Robin Perry (Saanich--Gulf Islands)
Dorothy Goldin-Rosenberg (Trinity Spadina)
Greg Spendjan (Saanich--Gulf Islands)
Tony Winson (Guelph)
Ronny Yaron (Toronto Centre)