May Promises Green Party Will ‘Surprise People’ in Next Election

Jonathan Pedneault and Elizabeth May pose for a photo in Ottawa on Nov. 19, 2022. The Canadian Press/ Patrick Doyle

The Green Party is vowing to “surprise people” in the next federal election by taking more seats in the House of Commons than ever before.

“We are laser-focused on finding great candidates to stand in federal seats so that we will run a convincing group of candidates coast-to-coast-to-coast, electable, electable, and we will elect Green members of Parliament,” Green Party of Canada co-leader Elizabeth May told reporters in a Jan. 4 press conference. “We are very focused on that.”

The party has had only four MPs elected in the 41 years since its founding.

Ms. May, who runs the party with co-leader Jonathan Pedneault, said she likes the Green Party’s chances whether the election is this year or in 2025.

“Regardless of when the election happens, the Green Party is going to surprise people [by] electing a lot more MPs than we have had in the past,” Ms. May said, adding that the party will never again not have a full slate of candidates.

“What happened in 2021 and not running a full slate is to me incomprehensible and will not happen again,” she said.

Working in the Green Party’s favour, she said, is the “huge” disillusionment voters feel with other political parties.

“The disillusionment factor with Liberals is huge,” she said. “The disillusionment factor with the NDP is huge. In my province of British Columbia, there are so many people who say, ‘I’ll never vote NDP again.’”

She said one thing that sets Green candidates apart from others is a willingness to stand by their beliefs.

“It is very fundamental to a democracy that Canadians, that voters, that citizens believe their vote makes a difference and that people in public life keep their promises,” said Ms. May. “In terms of a progressive party, is the field crowded? No, we stand here alone. I don’t see anybody else.”

Ms. May and Mr. Pedneault have been running the party together for more than a year, but 2023 was not a stellar year for either of them. Ms. May suffered from a stroke last summer which forced her to slow down, while Mr. Pedneault failed to win a seat in a Montreal by-election last June.

Despite that, Ms. May sees nothing but good things for 2024 and says they expect to see more results like that of Aislinn Clancy in the recent by-election in Kitchener Centre.

Ms. Clancy’s “very decisive upset” in the December by-election made her the second elected Green MPP in the Ontario Legislature along with current party leader Mike Schreiner. The win, Ms. May said, could be partially attributed to the work of Green MP Mike Morrice.

“Aislinn Clancy’s vote was more than the combined votes of those for the NDP, Liberal and Conservatives combined. It’s not like the other parties gave that riding a pass,” Ms. May said.

Mr. Schreiner, at the time, said a “Green wave is growing” across Ontario, and Ms. May agreed, saying a “shift” is occurring in the province.

Poll analyst Philippe J. Fournier told The National Post, however, that current data does not back up Ms. May’s assertions.

“Either Ms. May has some numbers that have not been made public or that we’ve missed, or she is looking at the situation through rose-coloured glasses,” said Mr. Fournier, founder of 338Canada.

He said the federal Green Party is polling between 4 and 6 percent, which is the norm, adding that if an election occurred now, between one and three MPs would be elected.