A boost in the popularity of P.E.I.’s Green party has also translated into more fundraising dollars, members learned on Saturday.
More than 100 members gathered for the party’s annual general meeting at the Afton Community Centre Saturday, two days after another opinion poll found the party ahead of both the governing Liberals and opposition PCs.
According to party treasurer Sue Whitaker, the Greens fundraised $79,532 in 2018, up from $43,634 in 2017. Those donations came from 511 individuals, including 79 regular monthly donors.
The meeting was understated, concluding with a potluck dinner. But Green leader Peter Bevan-Baker made it clear that the group hoped the gathering might be a prelude to a political breakthrough in P.E.I.
“Never before in the world has a Green party been elected in a first-past-the-post system. Of course, we may not do that, but we have an opportunity that is a first in the world,” Bevan-Baker said.
“Let’s enjoy this. But let’s not be overwhelmed by it, let’s not be intimidated by it, let’s not be scared by that opportunity.”
On Thursday, a poll by MQO research found the Greens continuing to hold their place as the most popular political party on P.E.I., slightly ahead of the Liberals.
Bevan-Baker said Islanders have felt disconnected with the governing Liberals. Many residents feel that the Island’s recent economic prosperity has not translated into improvements in their lives, he said.
Bevan-Baker said he believes the party’s growth is partly due to its values of living within one’s financial and ecological means, local self-reliance and grassroots democracy.
Bevan-Baker said those values were “deeply embedded in Island traditions.”
“Our political voice carries the echoes of countless stories told by many generations of Islanders,” Bevan-Baker said. “As someone put it to me just a little while ago, Islanders needed to be angry enough to leave the party they were with, but they also needed a safe place to go. And I think the Green party is providing that comfort.”
The growth has also captured headlines nationally.
Bevan-Baker has been polling well ahead of Premier Wade MacLauchlan for almost two years and the party has polled slightly ahead of the Liberals for more than six months.
The party’s membership stands at 462, up from 294 in 2017, according to outgoing party president Jordan MacPhee.
Still, the party trails both the Liberal and PC parties in its fundraising capacity. Although neither party has released final fundraising tallies from 2018, in 2017, the Liberals raised $362,209 while the PCs raised $203,017.
During Saturday’s meeting, Green members passed most of the proposed amendments to the party’s constitution without debate. These included a motion to set four-year term limits for provincial council members and another to allow provincial council candidates to be nominated from the floor.
Saturday’s meeting was not without some debate, however. A motion to add a youth representative to the party’s provincial council stirred some disagreement due to a proposal that only party members younger than 30 be allowed to vote for this representative.
One party member, Roy Johnstone, described this as “reverse ageism.”
“Are you going to have a seniors rep and only the seniors can vote for them?” Johnstone asked.
“I think it either needs to be rethought or further amended.”
Another party member spoke in favour of the motion, urging party members to “trust people under 30 and their judgement.”
In the end, party members voted to pass the motion and created a youth representative on the party’s provincial council.
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