Election Day - Why We Vote Green

Ever wonder why people vote Green, even though sometimes it seems hopeless? Here's a speech I prepped for the Green Party election-eve rally in Vancouver. Enjoy!
- Matthew

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Friends, colleagues,

Tomorrow may not be our day in the sun. And indeed, that day may not arrive until many a tomorrow is done. But that day shall come.
As surely as dawn follows darkness, that day shall come.

That day shall come, when Green MP’s stand as equals in the House of Commons – when Green MP’s participate in the great debates that shall shape the future of this vast land which stretches from sea to shining sea, to shining sea.

That day shall come, when the Green Party leader is an equal participant in broadcast leadership debates, and we can compete on equal footing in…
- the marketplace of ideas,
- the forum of policy,
- the duel of competing visions for our communities, our country, our Canada.


That day shall come, when Green ideas trump old ideologies, and other parties adopt our policies, our proposals, as their own. In this election, we’ve seen that day has dawned. Some may worry that if other parties embrace Green themes, it will be at our expense. But I am not concerned.

Because for us, our day has dawned. And the dawn, once begun, does only rise – and grows stronger and stronger. Sunrise awaits us.

Our day has dawned, but the other parties, they have reached their noon – the future holds for them, the threat of twilight. So when they pull policies from our platform, let us none the less applaud them. For, though they may stand beneath a different banner, in that policy they will be advancing our cause, the Green cause:
the public good, for today, for tomorrow, and for all tomorrows to come.

And that cause, our cause, is broad enough to include allies of every persuasion.


And that is why we need not dominate the Commons, to succeed. We need not dominate the Commons, though that day shall, in its own time, arrive. We need merely a voice, to serve the public, to uphold their interest.

That day shall come;
Our day has dawned.

(c) Matthew Klippenstein
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