Green Leader Elizabeth May says she expected to be Canada’s lone Green MP when she was first elected in 2011, but wasn’t prepared to be left as the sole federal Green MP in the country on Monday night.
“To go back [to Ottawa] alone is not something I’d ever have imagined,” May said.
Early on in the 37-day campaign, May dismissed polls that predicted the Conservatives were on her tail in Saanich-Gulf Islands, and pundits and editorialists who hinted she was past her prime.
“I felt like Mark Twain in that the report of my death is somewhat exaggerated,” she quipped. She remained confident in her party’s own polling and put faith in the constituents who hugged her on the doorstep and waved, honked or hollered in support.
In the end, she handily won a fifth term representing Saanich-Gulf Islands with 39.1 per cent of the vote, surpassing Liberal candidate David Beckham (31.8 per cent) and Conservative Cathie Ounsted (25.1 per cent).
“I’m very, very grateful to the voters of Saanich-Gulf Islands — they’ve extended my contract and I will keep working hard for the voters of this community and for the issues that people at Saanich-Gulf Islands care about,” said May, adding the riding will remain her priority.
She and Bloc Québécois Leader Yvest-Francois Blanchet were the only two opposition party leaders to be re-elected — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre both failed to win their seats.
In the kitchen of Church and State Wines, where her campaign celebrated Monday night, May phoned Prime Minister Mark Carney and affirmed her Team Canada approach to prioritize stability in Parliament and government.
“Anyone in elected office in this country must be aware that we have to pull together — premiers and members of Parliament — but particularly leaders of opposition parties and the prime minister,” she said. “Every seat is going to count and every vote is going to count for stability in Parliament.”
May said she will balance that with being an effective opposition to government. “The goal here is to make sure that Canada is resilient and actually emerges from the madness of Donald Trump stronger, more self reliant, more self-sufficient and pushing the country to real climate action.”
At the same time, May acknowledges the hard work ahead to rebuild the party after Green incumbent Mike Morrice lost his seat in Kitchener Centre, as did Jonathan Pedneault, who placed fifth in the Montreal riding of Outremont and resigned his co-leader position on Wednesday.
May expected Pedneault to connect with Quebec voters and said “it was a really significant body blow” to him when he was dropped from the national debates.
“I think he has a lot to contribute and I wish he wouldn’t go, but I couldn’t talk him out of it,” said May, who automatically becomes sole leader.
While it’s not always an easy job, May said politics is just a vehicle to pursue the issues she is most passionate about — such as fighting climate change.
She’s also feeling grateful for her family and good health — she just celebrated her sixth wedding anniversary with husband John Kidder and is over the moon about granddaughter Lily.
As in past years, May is open to be considered for the Speaker’s job, but right now she’s focused on what role she might have in the next Parliament.
“I’ve always thought [being Speaker] would be an important contribution I could make, because I’m such a parliamentary-rules person,” she said, “but I mean, right now it’s a pretty hypothetical question, because we at least don’t even know some of the last recounts and how that’s going to go.
“I could have a pretty significant role in Parliament — even having the balance of power could still happen.”
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