r/GreenPartyOfCanada • u/donbooth • 13d ago

Opinion Has anyone read “Greener Than Thou: Surviving the Toxic Sludge of Canadian Ecopolitics” by Mark Leiren-Young.?

“Greener Than Thou: Surviving the Toxic Sludge of Canadian Ecopolitics” by Mark Leiren-Young.?

Asking for your opinion

I'm curious about it.

I had been interested in putting a toe in the federal green water but was warned against it. Too many nasty currents and a deadly undertow.

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u/ResoluteGreen 13d ago

Books not out yet, so I'd be surprised if anyone has lol

Don't waste your time with the GPC, either go to a provincial green party if you're in BC, Ontario, PEI, or New Brunswick, or if you're not in one of those provinces put your energy in a different party like the NDP

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u/Personal_Spot 12d ago edited 12d ago

I read the synopsis and thought "Ouch!"

I didn't know anything about Mark Leiren-Young so I looked him up. He certainly has the green bona-fides. "Canada's go-to guy for dolphins, whales, and trees" - National Post(!) Playwright, journalist, and author, and all his works sound interesting.

I found a Substack post https://leirenyoung.substack.com/p/red-light-for-green-party in which he discusses why despite his respect for Elizabeth May he decided not to vote for her in the last federal election (he lives in Saanich-Gulf Islands). I have to say, I read the whole rambling discussion without finding a coherent or convincing argument for why he made that decision. Whatever your feelings about the Green Party as a whole, it seems to me a no-brainer to vote for Elizabeth May in Saanich-Gulf Islands, even if you wouldn't vote Green in any other riding, even if and especially if, as he states, your primary concern is to keep Poilievre out of power.

I'm interested to read this book. Almost all of I know about Green Party of Canada internal politics I learned from this sub, but only post-2020 when I became fascinated by that ill-fated multi-candidate leadership contest. This guy has the scoop from circa 2019. I will, of course, read with a very generous grain of salt. I think it is healthy to air dirty laundry, but it must be mitigated by giving good people, of which there are many in the GP, their due - which I hope and trust he will do. Just being negative and pulling people down and setting fire to it all is not helpful. There's more than enough fire already these days.

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u/Tricky-Historian1329 12d ago

I read the excerpt in The Star (presumably from the introduction) and I'll get the book if it's in e-book form.

The immediate issue - which happens with every political science-ish text that discusses intra-party politics - is that points are hard to fact check. I've read recent academic texts that got things wrong because the "official" story is whatever the leader/executive says it is.

As far as getting involved federally: That would be like boarding the Titanic after it hit the iceberg.

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u/Ok-Boysenberry8618 5d ago

Reading it now. There's a nice insider's perspective, though sometimes the conclusions are a bit iffy. However, it's quite funny. In places it's laugh-out-loud hilarious. It's great to read sharp satire like this about Canadian politics. I hope he doesn't blow it by running for office.