Green Party of Canada Leader Elizabeth May has stepped down after 13 years at the party’s helm.
May announced in a press conference in Ottawa Monday she would be stepping down immediately, and that a leadership convention will take place in October 2020 in Charlottetown, P.E.I.
May made the announcement in the presence of the party’s other two members of Parliament, Paul Manly and Jenica Atwin, May's husband John Kidder and deputy leader Jo-Ann Roberts.
May announced Roberts would be the party’s interim leader, effective immediately. Roberts ran as the party’s candidate in Halifax but lost to Liberal incumbent Andy Fillmore.
Green party voters were disappointed with the few seats gained by the party after last month’s federal election. Prior to the beginning of the campaign, some polls had indicated the party was ahead of the New Democratic Party.
But May said her departure was coming at a time of success for the party.
“We had a good campaign. We had some very strong headwinds,” May said. “We do know that we’ve done better than we ever did before.”
May also said she had made the decision to step down because she had made a promise to her daughter, Kate, that the 2019 election would be her last as leader.
May will remain as MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands, and will also serve as the Green Party of Canada’s parliamentary leader, meaning she will still speak for the party in the House of Commons.
Speaking with SaltWire, Roberts said even she was surprised by the timing of May’s decision, but said she believes it was a good move for the party.
Roberts said her imminent role is mostly organizational. One of her key mandates as the interim leader will be, with the help of a committee, to the leadership race. She will also be co-chair of the party’s shadow cabinet.
“Under a minority government the possibility of another election could happen faster than in four years, so the timing is important. The Green party wants to have a new leader in place so we have lots of time for that new leader to get elected, to have a chance to be well known to Canadians,” she said. “There's a lot that comes with a leadership race, some excitement to new faces, and we've really benefited from having well known person was our leader but you've got to go beyond that and that's the opportunity that we have now.”
While Roberts said while there have been no hopefuls officially declare an interest in the job, she expects a robust campaign. Atwin said during Monday’s news conference that she wasn’t planning to run. Roberts will also not be seeking permanent leadership of the party.
“I would say most people in the Green party can name two or three people who they think will run for good leadership, and I wouldn't say that they're all internal right now,” she said.
“We did, we did a million people vote for us. I hope that those million people will say, ‘I'd like to help pick the next leader.’”
With significant gains in support in the Maritimes, and the party convention set be held there, Roberts, who lives in Halifax, said the race will be one to watch for East Coast Green supporters.
“One of the reasons that I was named deputy [...] Elizabeth called and said, we need someone on the East Coast. We're seeing real growth and we need the party to have a face there,” Roberts said. “Of the 25 ridings in the Maritimes, 20 of them the Greens had over 10 per cent of the vote. There was only 49 in Canada where Greens hit over 10 per cent of the vote. So our strength in the Maritimes is very strong.”
May also announced Monday that after consulting with her party, she would not be running for Speaker of the House, something she had expressed interest in during recent interviews.
Check out our profile on May prior to the 2019 federal election:
