Election roundup

1. It looks like Green Party leader Elizabeth May will be invited to the debates after all. I guess if they're polling 10% nationally, it's a little hard to argue that they should be excluded. Then again, they don't have a single elected member of parliament (the one Green MP was elected as a Liberal).

I'm not really sure what to think of the Greens. They're basically NDP to the max, with a heavier focus on environmentalism. I guess democracy is what it is, but does the Canadian Left really need to be even more fragmented?

2. Speaking of which, Jack Layton is really laying into the Liberals, saying the Green Shift will only hurt consumers, in contrast to the NDP's own cap and trade proposal. He accurately pointed out that the carbon tax is more of a blunt instrument, and does not let each polluter reach an individual cost-effective arrangement. But there are advantages to a carbon tax too, which I have blogged about previously. While cap and trade certainly has its merits, many economists will find Dion's proposal more sensible.

Of course, little of this will matter if the Tories win a majority, which is not an insane possibility, given the poll numbers at this time.