2006 Campaign
As in 2004, Harris unsuccessfully called for the Green Party to be included in the televised leadership debates for the 2006 election. Three days before the election, he predicted that his party would win one million votes. The Greens increased their total to 665,940 votes (4.5%), but again failed to elect any candidates. Harris was a candidate in Beaches—East York, and finished fourth against Liberal incumbent Maria Minna.
The GPC's internal divisions were exposed during the election when former assistant national organizer Matthew Pollesel, who left the Green Party following a contract dispute, accused Harris of mismanaging the party's finances. Pollesel charged that money had been spent without proper reporting, and called for Elections Canada to investigate possible wrongdoing. In addition, Dana Miller, a former party candidate who was not permitted to run in 2006, later called on Elections Canada to investigate Harris's expenses from the 2004 leadership contest. Harris described the accusation as "false, groundless and scurrilous", and the party threatened a libel lawsuit in each case, though no suits were actually filed.
Read more about this topic: Jim Harris (politician)
Famous quotes containing the word campaign:
“The fact that a man is to vote forces him to think. You may preach to a congregation by the year and not affect its thought because it is not called upon for definite action. But throw your subject into a campaign and it becomes a challenge.”
—John Jay Chapman (1862–1933)