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NEW GLASGOW, N.S.–Green Leader Elizabeth May has called for a cross-party coalition to stop a Conservative victory when the next election comes around.
May, whose party emerged from the election with a $2 million debt, said a coalition would overcome a "perverse" electoral system that gave the Conservatives a stronger minority government.
It would avoid vote splitting among parties that support strong action to reduce global warming, she told reporters yesterday.
"There's only one party whose position (on climate change) is disgraceful and dangerous and that's Mr. Harper's," May said, of the prime minister.
May has described the coalition as one where Greens, Liberals, NDP and Bloc Québécois would carve up seats according to the candidates most likely to defeat Conservatives.
May said it's the next best thing to replacing the first-past-the-post voting system with one that allocates seats according to a party's proportion of the national vote. Under proportional representation, the Greens' 7 per cent support Tuesday would have elected up to 22 MPs, May said.
The election increased the party's vote by more than 2 percentage points and saw May participate in the leaders' TV debates.
"The breakthrough unfortunately eluded us this time, but we're not going anywhere. The Green party is here to stay," said May, who scored 32 per cent of the vote in her unsuccessful bid to unseat Defence Minister Peter MacKay in the riding of Central Nova.
At least one leading Green was disappointed. Mike Nagy, who came in third in Guelph, blamed calls for strategic voting for a drop in party support on voting day.
"Elizabeth May called for it on some occasions but the party itself was not calling for strategic voting," Nagy said in an interview.
It's the kind of disgruntlement that could see May facing questions about her leadership.
May once stated she would rather see no Green MPs and the Conservatives out of power than a full caucus with Harper as prime minister.
Nagy, the party's environment critic, also made clear he doesn't back May's call for an anti-Conservative coalition.
"I believe you promote Green values and you get Greens elected to Parliament. It's not about trying to stop one party," he said. "There has to be some serious discussion in the party so that we are not compromising our votes for the sake of other parties."
Greens spent $4 million on the campaign. May said she'll spend the next few months raising donations to reduce the party's debt. And she wants to use the almost $2 per vote the party will receive under federal election laws to build a party "machine" for the next election.
She ended with a rousing defence of Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion.
"I think we may very well in the future describe him as the best prime minister we never had."
