Roy MacMullin joins Green party's leadership race

Roy MacMullin is the second candidate to enter the Green Party of New Brunswicks leadership race and he's pushing a plan to co-operate morewith the NDP and the Peoples Alliance.

MacMullin said if he's elected leader of the party, he'd like to strike deals with the NDP and the People's Alliance to avoid running candidates against each other in certain ridings.

"That is the best way to start this process, to see if it would actually work," he said.

"I think it has the possibility of intriguing the electorate, by giving them a strong third alternative."

He said the provinces smaller parties need to co-operate so they do not split the vote and allow Progressive Conservatives and Liberals to be elected.

MacMullin, who is bilingual, is a retired NB Power employee and a board member of the New Brunswick Conservation Council.

MacMullin ran as a Green candidate in the 2010 provincial election in the Moncton East riding. He also ran unsuccessfully for a Moncton city council position in May.

MacMullin is running against David Coon, the executive director of the Conservation Council, for the Green party's top job.

The Green party will pick its next leader on Sept. 22 in Fredericton.

New Brunswicks Green party ran candidates for the first time in the 2010 election but it did not elect any members. The party, however, did win 4.5 per cent of the popular vote in the election.

The Green party's popular support edged up to five per cent in May 2012, according to the latest Corporate Research Associates poll. The party registered zero per cent support in CRA's August 2011 poll.