Why are the Greens 'left' ?
Why do my NDP friends say they're "right" ?
Righties call any environmental policies "left" because it may interfere with fossil fuel business (big Oil & Gas) corporate farming (big Ag), rampant building on greenfields (big Dev).
But the Green Party is a business party attempting to change the way we do business to an environmentally sound model. E.g., yesterday May said "No new fossil fuel wells, no fracking." Subsidies for fossil fuels would end, renewable energy would be prioritized with federal support.
While a Green business plan includes a "livable wage", parental benefits, and other social benefits (most won first by unions) they don't say much about unions.
So the NDP say the Greens are right wing.
All of which says to me that
the Greens are centrist, focusing on shifting business to environmentally sustainable plans.
I see Greens as centrist supporting sustainable local-regional small-medium sized businesses (80%of our jobs) and not the corporate fossilized behemoths, while maintaining social supports.
The Greens are the party of the younger organic farmers, who can't afford to buy enough farm land to grow their businesses, while the average age of family farmers is 50+ without a means of retirement except selling their farm to Big Ag or Big Dev (much more restricted now). If the Greens can figure out a succession plan for family farmers, the huge blue swathe across much of rural Canada could turn Green.