Elizabeth May willing to mediate coalition to topple Stephen Harper

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May says that if Stephen Harper wins aminority government, she isprepared to call the Governor General and ask that she begiven timeto mediate a coalition with the opposition parties and ensure the Conservatives don't take power.

"Well, Idisagree with the term 'win' in terms of minority," saidMay, whosat down with CBC News chief correspondent PeterMansbridgefor the last in a series of four interviews withthe party leaders."The opposition parties have achoice."

May said she doesn't like it when opposition parties "skip that step" when they could go to the Governor General to try to form a government.

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Theopposition parties, in a minority government situation,can approachthe Governor General and say they would like the opportunity to form government, even if none of those parties individually have won the most seats. Harper, NDP Leader TomMulcairandLiberal Leader JustinTrudeauhave all said that in a minority situation,the party that wins the most seats gets the first chance atgoverning.

But May doesn't agree.

"WhenI went to the election night party May 2nd, 2011, and I didn'tat that point have any expectations of winning more than my own seat, I had the phonenumber for Rideau Hall with me so that I could put in that call that night if it was a minorityParliament," May said. "

May said that she didn't want to see the Conservatives form a minority government "simply because the NDP and the Liberals were paralyzed by their hyper-partisandislike for each other."

Willing to be matchmaker

If that's the case again come Oct. 19, May said, she's willing to be a mediator or matchmaker between the NDP and Liberals to get them to work together.

• Full text of Peter Mansbridge's interview with Elizabeth May

Mansbridge asked May what credibility she would need to have the Governor General take her call. She said constitutionally he would have to.

"In our system of government, the Governor General would take my call.Any member of Parliament who wants time, as the leader of a party, to talk about presentingto our head of state, Her Majesty, through the Governor General a more durable, productive Parliament."

However, May said the Green Party would not be part of anycoalition and would remain an opposition party that's able to hold the government to account."

But she does have a list of demandsif she held the balance of power.

"Short list get rid of first past the post. Bring in proportional representation, repeal Bill C-51, reduce the powers of the Prime Minister's Office, because they are illegitimate and unhealthy, and real climate action beginning the day after the election. We have to get to work to prepare for the deadline negotiations that will take place in Paris."

The Green Party currently has three members who were MPsin the last Parliament.WhileMay said her dream is to geta total of 30 seats in the election, shebelieves her party will more likely net 12 to 15.

May laid out her party's platform this week, saying she wants to eliminateuniversity and college tuition fees, expand Canada's rail and urban transit systems and halt the use of fossil fuels by mid-century.

Maysaid she supportskeeping the child-care benefit subsidyand makingno changes to GST, butwould scrap the Tories' income-splitting plan, keeping it only forretired seniors on their pensions.

She saidthe tax-free savings account limit should drop back down to $5,500,having been raised to $10,000 in the last budget. And the corporate tax rate, currently at 15 per cent, shouldbe raised to19 per cent, she said, the same as it was in 2009.

May agreed that on those points, she sharessimilar views with the NDP and Liberals. But she said issues like electoral reform and restoringparliamentarydemocracy are far more important.

"If we can rescue democracy from politics in thiscountry, that's far more meaningful than whether there's a deficit here or there or the tax rateis 19 or 18 per cent."