Green Party of Ontario
endorsement of third-party campaigns or events

Last update: $Date: 2002/01/20 14:46:26 $ UTC

Introduction by Russell McOrmond

To be involved in a third party campaign properly we must expend some resources to determine if the campaign is inline with our policy and values. At this point we actually have resources within the party which are themselves a sub-campaign which would have accountability to the party as does other activities of the party.

As an alternative to simply signing the name of the Green Party of Ontario to a campaign, we may want to simply advertise the campaign using Green Party communications. We would further clarify that just because we talk about and otherwise communicate an issue, does not mean the Green Party has made a formal decision. We are a very decentralized party, and should make use of and promote that fact.

In discussions about this resolution so far, the most controversial question is whether or not Council members should be able to endorse a campaign on their own, or whether they should be required to get the approval of the membership first. We have had recent experience where the council has signed the party onto campaigns, and did not communicate this fact to the membership. I drafted this resolution in this form deliberately to try to deal with this case.

It may be that disallowing council to endorse a campaign may not be supported by the membership. It may also be determined that this aspect of this resolution should be considered a temporary measure while the party works on improving accountability and transparency. Either way, while I brought this resolution forward, this resolution should be considered in the hands of the membership and these details can be worked out at the APC.

Endorsers

Russell McOrmond <russell@flora.ca>
Stuart Langstaff <slangstaff@neptec.com>
Richard Guy Briggs <rgb@conscoop.ottawa.on.ca>
Raphael Thierrin <raphael@green.ca>
Michael Richardson <mcr@sandelman.ottawa.on.ca>
Andrew vokes <andrew@greenparty.on.ca>
Ian Whyte <ianwhyte@comnet.ca> (clarifications required)
Dennis Whitfield <dmw@conscoop.ottawa.on.ca>
Wendy Nicholds <wn@conscoop.ottawa.on.ca>
Nancy Shaver <nancy@attentionseekers.ca>
Krishna E . Bera <keb@cyblings.on.ca>
Doug Woodard <dwoodard@npiec.on.ca>

This is a resolution to add the following as a new "Internal party directive". This is currently known as section 7 of the BASF document.

• There are many events or campaigns which the party is often requested to participate in.

• An event or campaign hosted by a third party is not under the control of the Green Party of Ontario. As such it may change mandate over time or may have overlap but not be equivalent to the position of the Green Party

• We have a diverse membership, and sometimes have differing interpretations of Green Party values and policy. Two of the core green values of the International Greens are grassroots democracy, and respect for diversity, As such we should not have small groups of people making decisions about what is then presented as the views of the group.

We must as a party define specific criteria for signing onto a campaign or participating in an event in a way that would be seen as endorsed by the membership of the Green Party of Ontario. In order to ensure transparency, we should also have reporting requirements so that the membership of the party would be made fully aware of any such participation.

• We should as a general rule not "endorse" third-party campaigns or events.

• We should be encouraged to use our communications channels such as our newsletter, website, and mailing lists to advertise campaigns so that our members can decide to join on their own. This would be understood as being part of party communications and debate about an idea, not as an endorsement of the campaign or event by the party.

• The communications chair, under the direction of the council and membership, should be expected to report on or clarify via our communications channels the position of the Green Party of Ontario with respect to any third-party event or campaign we have participated in. This will not only include events or campaigns fully endorsed by the Green Party of Ontario, but also where there was a very visible Green Party of Ontario membership involvement.

• we should create an exception to the general rule where the membership can publicly endorse a campaign or event. This would be done through a resolutions at a convention, or other similarly transparent and democratic decision making mechanism.

• we should ensure that while campaigns need to be endorsed by the membership, that the endorsement can be removed simply by council. This would be to recognize that a third-party-campaign could change mandate or technique quite quickly to the point where we may no longer support the campaign.