There are 86 days until the provincial election on October 10.
Today I wrote a rather lengthy piece about the Green Party's prospects in Mississauga. One assumes, by looking at their history in Mississauga and Ontario, that their prospects are blacker than bleak.
In 1990, the first year the Green Party had candidates running in Mississauga, the two candidates didn't make much of a dent.
Ken Moores received 2.8 per cent of the vote in Mississauga North.
In Mississauga South, Scott McWhinnie got four per cent of the vote.
Four per cent is the Green Party's best ever showing in the city.
Last election, in 2003, the best the Party did was in Bramlea-Gore-Malton-Springdale, where candidate Ernst Braendli got 2.8 per cent of the vote.
Even catching up to the NDP, which received double-digit support in only one riding last election, will be a challenge for the Greens.
Nelson Wiseman, a political science prof at the University of Toronto, put the Green Party's problem best: "Their support is spread like butter on bread."
It is highly unlikely the Green Party will win a seat in Mississauga, or even in Ontario, but it's impossible to say they haven't made an impact on politics across the country.
I remember interviewing then-federal Green leader Jim Harris when I was covering the 2004 federal election. He said even if the Green Party doesn't win any seats, if other parties steal their ideas, the whole thing would be worthwhile.
The main parties have stolen their ideas, and the mission of the Green Party is worthwhile, but it's hard to imagine them getting a foothold any time soon.
Unless, of course, more than 60 per cent of us vote in favour of a new electoral system on the referendum, which will be the same day as the election.