May on Layton: "Jack, I don’t know how you live with yourself."

Q: Do you think they (Harper & Layton) still work together?
A: (...) It’s very obvious.

May on view of Liberals vs. NDP: "I refuse to play these stupid strategic games that would win us a few seats, but lose us the planet. It’s rather clear in my mind what’s more important."

All Anti-Conservatives should read full Macleans interview with Elizabeth May:

Q: Do you think Stephen Harper and Jack Layton are afraid of you?
A: It’s clear that they must have been afraid of something, to say that if I was included in the debates they wouldn’t show up. Harper and Layton have their plan. Nothing can interfere with their plan. Their plan, to destroy the Liberal party, is a route to electoral success for both of them. But my concern about climate means that I can’t play into the game that says it doesn’t matter if Harper is elected. They know exactly what they can expect of Stéphane Dion. And [they] know exactly what they can expect of each other. And [Gilles] Duceppe is a predictable factor. I’m the only unpredictable factor. And they know that my commitment is ensuring that Mr. Harper isn’t prime minister at the end of the next election. As long as Mr. Layton and Mr. Harper can keep training themselves on the Liberals, the result would be a Conservative government, and, maybe, a few more NDP seats. That’s why, I think, Jack Layton didn’t want me in the debates.

Q: You’ve referred to it, paraphrasing journalist Rick Salutin, as the Harper-Layton juggernaut.
A: In 2005, I’d been on the phone with Jack Layton right up until the government fell. Until that point, I’d believed in him. I’d admired him. He told me that he’d only gone into federal politics over his concern for the climate. I’d been on the phone with him begging him: "don’t bring down the government on the day of the opening of the climate conference."

Q: So you lost a lot of respect for Layton that day?
A: I remember leaving him a voicemail on his cell saying: "Jack, I don’t know how you live with yourself. I don’t know how you could possibly do this."

Q: What’s his strategy?
A: I’m sure that Jack Layton would deny with every fibre of his being that he wanted to advance the Harper agenda. But he certainly is having that effect. In 2005, he did meet in a room with Mr. Harper and Mr. Duceppe and choose to bring down the government of Canada. Bringing down the government on the opening day of the climate conference had the effect of removing climate as an issue during the election campaign.

Q: Do you think they still work together?
A: If you look at which parties were ready going out the starting gate of a surprise election, Mr. Harper and Mr. Layton were ready. Harper’s never been shy of saying that he works closely with Jack Layton, and that they have a close working relationship. Whenever Mr. Harper says it, Jack Layton goes into fits of denial. But it’s very obvious.

Q: Do you support the Liberals?
A: I don’t support the Liberals. I support Stéphane Dion as a person, because of our long history of working together. When I became leader of the Green Party, he was a long shot to win the Liberal leadership. Mr. Harper’s policies around climate change are dangerous. It’s not a partisan issue. It’s a question of our moral obligation to avoid catastrophic global warming effects. It’s not about politics. And it sure isn’t about whether I prefer any party over the Greens. I refuse to play these stupid strategic games that would win us a few seats, but lose us the planet. It’s rather clear in my mind what’s more important.