P.E.I. taking centre stage for national Green Party

Two of Canada's most prominent Green politicians are looking ahead positively to the party's prospects as it prepares for a federal leadership convention on P.E.I. next fall.

Elizabeth May stepped down as leader of the party earlier this week.

The party picked up one seat in the federal election last month, below what expectations were at the beginning of the campaign. But Jo-Ann Roberts, the Halifax-based interim leader of the party, said expectations in politics can make a party's performance tricky to interpret.

"What is the narrative coming out of [the campaign]? We didn't do as well as expected and the NDP did better than expected," said Roberts.

"Yet when you look at it, we're going back with more seats and they're going back with less."

Steady growth

P.E.I. provincial Green Leader Peter Bevan-Baker said it is a lot to expect a party to jump from third or fourth place to winning a seat. He also points to the NDP's experience in Quebec, where it won 59 seats in 2011 and just one in 2019.

"In the political race of the tortoise and the hare the Greens are the tortoise, and we are moving forward but we are doing it steadily," said Bevan-Baker.

"We all know who ultimately won that race."

Roberts noted the party won more than a million votes across Canada in last month's election, double what it earned in 2015 and 24 per cent more than its previous peak in 2008.

She also pointed out how the first-past-the-post system works against parties like the Greens who are getting votes all across the country. The Green's 1.2 million votes brought the party three seats, while 1.4 million votes for the Bloc Qubcois brought 32 seats.

Looking inside and out

Bevan-Baker said while May's departure leaves a big void, he believes the party is moving in the right direction, and potential candidates for the leadership will recognize that.

"The opportunity for someone to step forward to take over a major Canadian party that is on the cusp, I believe, of doing something very special across this country, I think there will be all kinds of people who will be interested in that," he said.

"I'm very confident we will find someone who will inspire Canadians."

Bevan-Baker expects to see candidates who are active in the party now, and entirely outside the party.

The new leader will be selected at a party convention in Charlottetown on Oct. 4.

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