Election night started off with great promise and high hopes for the Green Party with an historic win in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
“Regardless of where you put your x, we are in this together and I will not leave anyone behind,” Green MP-elect Jenica Atwin told her supporters.
Then they celebrated another big win as Paul Manly retained his seat in Nanaimo-Ladysmith.
Elizabeth May easily held her seat in Saanich-Gulf Islands, but the good news for the Greens would stop there. The tears of joy quickly turning to tears of disappointment at Green Party headquarters.
“I do stand before you heartbroken because Racelle Kooy is a spectacular Indigenous woman whose voice I wanted to hear in Parliament,” Leader Elizabeth May told a room full of supporters.
Despite high expectations, the Greens did not pick up any additional seats on Vancouver Island.
“If this election had any ballot question it was climate change so for the Greens not to do better in view of that, that has to be disappointing I think after so many years,” said Royal Roads Political Communications professor David Black.
While they did nearly double their share of the popular vote (6.5 per cent) from last election (3.45 per cent), it was still below their peak in 2008 (6.78 per cent). May blames the results on NDP attack ads mailed out across Vancouver Island.
“It was shameless, but it seems to have worked, at least on Vancouver Island and that was the only place Greens were targeted with attacks,” she said.
The results have some political experts questioning whether there is room on Canada’s left for both the Greens and NDP.
“It may be an election cycle or two down the road where those parties have to think about the act that they’re cannibalizing each other, and there aren’t enough votes on the left to ensure that two parties can thrive there,” said Black.
May says while she plans to run again in Saanich-Gulf islands, it may soon be time for her to hand over leadership of the party. She says that won’t happen immediately but if the next election isn’t until 2023 there’s a good chance she will have a successor.
April Lawrence
