Disgruntled conservatives, pot smokers and working moms should all consider voting for the Greens, federal party leader Elizabeth May said Friday in Kelowna.
The party appeals to “fiscally conservative, but socially progressive,” people, May said after arriving at Kelowna‘s airport.
About as many Green party members as members of the media were on hand to greet May, the first national party leader to visit the Okanagan this campaign. However, she said the small turnout of supporters was not surprising, as the event had been organized in a hurry.
A big rally was planned for Friday night in Polson Park in Vernon.
“We really do think we‘re within striking distance of winning seats here in B.C.,” May said.
One reason for her optimism, she said, is that large numbers of former Progressive Conservatives and Reform party members are unhappy with the direction taken by the Conservative party under Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
She described the Conservatives as far more right wing than the PCs were, and said Harper had “betrayed the early idealism” of the Reform party.
Rather than regularly consult party members and allow MPs a degree of freedom in their voting, as Reform had pledged to do, May said Harper had fashioned a Conservative party that is more “autocratic” than any in Canadian history.
On other issues, May said the Greens would create family-support plans that would financially benefit both working and stay-at-home moms who rely on day care, because “one size doesn‘t fit all.”
Asked about the party‘s plan to legalize marijuana, May said the current situation, which she called a form of prohibition, was not working.
Criminalizing the cultivation and sale of marijuana just works to the advantage of organized crime, May said, while describing its use as “fairly socially acceptable.” A better approach, she suggested, would be for the government to control and tax the distribution of marijuana, much as it does with alcohol and tobacco.
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