Canada News Report | Green Party Slam Poetry “How to get rid of your bad government”

The Green Party is telling voters it’s time for Canadians to end their love affair with the Conservatives and tell that boyfriend, Stephen, to hit the road.

Following on the heels of their anti-attack ad campaign, relying mainly on YouTube, the Greens released the Slam Poetry offerings of twenty-something Winona Linn. As with the attack ads, the Slam Poetry musings and railings are designed to get young voters engaged in the election.

This is an uphill fight since Canadians of all ages seem pretty well indifferent to the campaign in progress. In fact, polls and streeter interviews indicate our good citizens don’t understand the need for an election at all. “Unnecessary” seems to be the mantra, encouraged by Tory messaging and resonating with voters, unfortunately.

For those who are paying attention to the issues, the Harper government’s contempt of Parliament for example, Linn’s lyricism is a refreshing alternative to the usual political rhetoric.

Linn tells us the government is treating her like a bad lover. “Refusing to listen to me. Lying to my face, buying expensive toys with my money and then not telling me about them.” These lines are recited while young actors circle her holding toy planes (CF-35s perhaps?).

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The Greens hope the YouTube slamming will go viral and get the attention of the youth vote. We hope it does, too. For example, in the 2008 election only 35 percent of eligible electors, age 20 to 24, turned up to cast a ballot. This represents a dangerous denigration of the pillars that support a democratic society.

With limited resources, compared to the major parties, the Greens are valiantly using online tools to get their messages the potential youth vote.

It’s an interesting irony that the day after the Greens released their Slam Poetry vehicle, the announcement comes that their party leader, Elizabeth May, has once again been shut out of the televised leaders debate.

When this happened during the 2008 election campaign, the leaders and the broadcast consortium that organizes the debates were howled down by the public and May was allowed to participate even though the Green’s do not have a seat in the House of Commons.

Much of the howling was heard online through the blogosphere, Twitter as well as through public reaction reported in the news media. Public opinion pressure built to the point where organizers and candidates conceded and May was allowed to participate.

Expect more virtual and real howling on this subject. The messages will be that excluding May is a slam against democracy. It remains to be seen whether the Greens, with 6.8 percent of the 2008 popular vote, will once again get a seat at the debate after the tweets and blogs get finished with the establishment.

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