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OTTAWA — A local Green party candidate is warning supporters that voting strategically could cost the party tens of thousands of dollars and strip away its newfound momentum.
Ottawa Centre candidate Jen Hunter is reacting to a sophisticated web, email and media campaign urging Canadians to vote for candidates most likely to beat the Conservatives.
Ms. Hunter says strategic voting may be well-intentioned, but it's often “based on faulty logic and . . . will not magically save the planet.”
Questions have been raised whether Green Leader Elizabeth May was planning to encourage her supporters in close ridings to instead vote Liberal in order to prevent a Tory win — claims Ms. May has denied.
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Ms. Hunter says so-called strategic voting threatens to hurt the Greens at a time when voters are finally recognizing them as “a mainstream political force that offers sensible policies for Canada's future.”
She says strategic voting, if widely practised, would cost the Greens their first real chance at winning federal seats, erode the party's support base, demoralize volunteers and cost tens of thousands of dollars in future funding.
“These attempts . . . could backfire and seriously harm the one party that is committed to protecting and enhancing our country's environmental, economic and social well-being,” Ms. Hunter said in a release Wednesday.
Federal parties earn $1.83 in federal funding for every vote, and local campaigns with at least 10 per cent of the vote get 60 per cent of their campaign expenses reimbursed by Elections Canada, she noted.
“Hundreds of volunteers have worked for years to build credibility, support, votes and funding for the Green party in Ottawa Centre,” Ms. Hunter said. “Thanks to their efforts, we're lucky to be mounting a well-organized, well-funded campaign with a budget approaching $60,000.
“Right now, I'm a contender in this riding. But the strategic voting campaign, if it's successful in drawing away enough of our support, can make the difference between winning this seat and losing as much as $36,000 in reimbursed expenses.”
At least two websites are instructing environmentally minded residents to vote for the NDP's Paul Dewar to ensure that Conservative candidate Brian McGarry can't win, she said.
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Week 5 of the campaign
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