Lately, I've been thinking over the Green Party's points of weakness, and while I think the party has the ability to bring a fresh perspective to Canadian politics, many things are lacking. The most important, however, I would judge to be the following:

1. Lack of personalities - Viewing the Green Party website, it becomes apparent that the Green Party is content to try and promote itself as as a personality cult. The Green Party really seems to lack any notable personell other than May. This makes it difficult to capture the imagination of ordinary Canadians. The Green Party needs to promote its most gifted leadership prospects, whomever they may be.

It's interesting that Jim Harris, after having lost the party leadership to Elizabeth May, has dropped completely off the map. Having served as leader of the Green Party during the 2006 election, the media is already familiar with Harris. It certainly makes more sense to have two (preferably many more than this) media personalities rather than simply one. This could be a cause for problem #2:

2. Lack of media coverage - The media in Canada simply doesn't cover the Green Party. This is unfortunate, as polls continue to forecast the Green party to capture anywhere from 7-15% of the popular vote in an upcoming election. The Green Party simply isn't treated as a political entity of any significance by the Canadian media.

3. Organizational atrophy - Having been founded in 1983, the Green Party has existed in Canada for 24 years, and has never elected a single MP. Compare this to the Reform party, which required only five years to elect 52 MPs, or the Bloc Quebecois, who needed only a year to elect 54! The Green Party may simply not be viewed by the Canadian public as a political entity of any credibility. This could be an impossible hurdle to clear.

4. Lack of comprehensive policy platform - As previously mentioned, the Green Party is a one-issue party. Their foreign policy is a mess, and their energy policy is laughable. While they propose a novel, decentralized approach to nation building -- a continual process for any healthy country -- they simply have no policy of any significance, other than their environmental policy. It isn't enough.

Any thoughts?