Green Party of Ontario
The Green Party of Ontario contests provincial elections in Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's second-largest Green Party after the Green Party of British Columbia.Although it shares the same Ten Key Values as other North American Greens, it is sometimes criticized by leftists as being (at least one of the) "furthest right" Green Parties in North America. The elements of green politics it emphasizes, including a green tax shift and privatization of electric power generation (with the public maintaining control of the extensive Ontario power grid), are almost libertarian in character. For this reason they are sometimes called Blue Greens or Green Tories.
Defenders of this strategy argue that it effectively splits the right wing vote, and does not prevent Greens from cooperating on the municipal and regional level with more left-wing parties. A term that Green activists coined to describe this strategy is radical centrist.
Leader Frank de Jong is a key figure in this strategy, and has led the Ontario Greens through almost their entire history. As of June 2003, when Ontario Premier Ernest Eves put off an anticipated election, the Ontario Greens stood as the fourth party, with support of 6% of the decided voters, concentrated in Toronto, Ontario's capital and largest city.
