The non-progressive, establishment parties (i.e. Liberals, Conservatives) have long been happy to dismiss the Green Party as left-wing environmentalists on the fringe of Canadian political life. Now, the NDP are going out of their way to mis-characterize the Greens as right-wing in an attempt to dissuade left-leaning voters away from the Greens. So which is it, left-wing or right-wing. The answer is "neither". The Green Party is not constrained by the old ideologies of last century. To the Greens, good ideas are simply good ideas.

To clearly distinguish the Green Party from the other mainstream parties, consider this mental exercise.

Can the Green Party be pigeonholed as right-wing?

	The Green Party unequivocally opposes the war on Iraq;
	The Green Party unequivocally opposes the Anti Ballistic Missile system;
	The Green Party unequivocally supports Kyoto as the first step in addressing climate change;
	The Green Party is unequivocally opposed to subsidizing oil and gas interests ($1.4 billion a year – and $40 billion over the last 30 years);
	The Green Party unequivocally supports mandatory reductions for the largest CO2 emitters in Canada to achieve our Kyoto goals (large emitters account for 50% of emissions);
	The Green Party unequivocally supports a woman's right to choice;
	The Green Party unequivocally supports gay marriage;
	The Green Party wants to refocus Canada's military's role to advance peace-building, environmental protection and supporting humanitarian assistance worldwide;
	The Green Party is unequivocally opposed to subsidizing GMO research;
	The Green Party supports the legalization of marijuana – to control, regulate and tax it – like alcohol;
	The Green Party unequivocally opposes nuclear power and is calling for its phase out as we embark on the most aggressive energy conservation plan in Canada's history;
	The Green Party unequivocally supports democratic reform and will make implementing proportional representation one of the conditions for the support of its MPs in the next Parliament;
	For the Green Party it is completely unacceptable that 1.2 million children live in poverty – in this one of the richest countries in the world. This, by the way, is 15 years after every old-line party committed to eliminate childhood poverty in Canada;
	The Green Party supports the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of giving 0.7% of Canada's Gross National Income (GNI) to foreign development assistance;

What distinguishes the Greens from the traditionally left-wing NDP then?

	The Green Party is unequivocally opposed to subsidizing car companies such as Ford and GM – which have the highest CO2 emissions of any major car companies worldwide;
	The Green Party is unequivocally opposed to construction of new nuclear power plants;
	The Green Party is unequivocally opposed to exporting uranium for nuclear weapons;
	The Green Party is unequivocally opposed to clear cutting;
	The Green Party is opposed to the commercial seal hunt and would cut government subsidies to it.
	The Green Party is unequivocally opposed to importing toxic waste from the United States to incinerate in Canada.

	The NDP government in BC supported the clear cutting of Clayoquot Sound.
	The NDP government in Ontario supported the construction of the Darlington Nuclear Power Plant;
	The federal NDP supported $100 million in subsidies to Ford in the Fall of 2004 and $200 million in subsidies to General Motors in March 2005 to protect CAW jobs, but GM announced 30,000 layoffs for North American workers in November 2005.
	The NDP accepts exporting uranium without guarantees that these exports are not used to create weapons of mass destruction;
	The NDP instigated the fall of the Liberal government in November 2005 before the most important conference in generations – the conference to negotiate the follow on agreement to the Kyoto Protocol. All the opposition parties put short-term political interest ahead of the long term interest of the planet and future generations.
	In Beldune, in Northern New Brunswick, the NDP MP is studying whether it's a bad idea to import toxic waste from New Jersey to burn.
	"Environmentalists are the enemies of progress" according to an NDP Premier in BC
	The largest mass arrest in Canada's history – arresting grandmothers, students and teachers stopping logging trucks from clear cutting old growth forest in Clayoquot occurred under an NDP government.
	In power, the NDP in Ontario, BC, Saskatchewan and Manitoba has never implemented proportional representation.
	The NDP pressured Rick Smith (Jack Layton's Chief of Staff) to resign in 2004 because he personally opposed the commercial seal hunt in Newfoundland.