Politics

Elizabeth May resigns as leader of the Green Party of Canada but will remain as party's parliamentary leader

by Charlie Smith on November 4th, 2019 at 10:35 AM
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      The woman who's most closely associated with the Green political brand in Canada is no longer leading her party.

      Today, Elizabeth May said that she's stepping aside and the interim leader will be former CBC broadcaster Jo-Ann Roberts, who was a Green candidate in 2015.

      May, 65, will remain as the parliamentary leader of the three-member Green caucus.

      "I've always kept my word and I've never lied, and I think that's important," May told reporters.

      She also said that she'll leave it to others as to how she'll be remembered as leader.

      "I'm not leaving national politics, I'm not leaving the Parliament of Canada," May emphasized, "and I do hope to continue to play a constructive role, and particularly in the leadership race to come."

      She quickly added that she will obviously maintain neutrality, while encouraging people who voted Green to get involved in the party.

      The next leader will be chosen at a convention in Charlottetown in October 2020.

      May became leader of the federal Greens in 2006 after a long stint as executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada. In the distant past, she worked for Progressive Conservative environment minister Tom McMillan.

      She lost in 2008 to Conservative cabinet minister Peter MacKay in Central Nova but managed to get elected to Parliament in 2011 in Saanich–Gulf Islands.

      May held her seat in the following two elections and this year, she was joined in caucus by a second Green MP when Paul Manly won the Nanaimo-Ladysmith by-election.

      Green Party of Quebec Leader Alex Tyrrell proudly held up an Extinction Rebellion placard during a protest last month in Montreal.
      Alex Tyrrell

      Ideology could play role in leadership race

      Manly was reelected in the October 21 general election along with Green MP-elect Jenica Atwin, who represents Fredericton.

      Atwin said at today's news conference that she won't be seeking the leadership.

      This weekend, Green Party of Quebec Leader Alex Tyrrell told CBC Newsthat he is considering taking a run at the leadership of the national Green party.

      Tyrrell would like the party to move much further to the left and embrace ecosocialism.

      In the past, Tyrrell has participated in protests by Extinction Rebellion, which advocates for peaceful civil disobedience to draw attention to the climate crisis.

      Another prospective candidate could be David Merner, a former justice department lawyer who was defeated in Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke. Merner is a former president of the Liberal Party of Canada in B.C. and in the election campaign, called for providing a safe drug supply to addicts to address the country's overdose crisis.

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