Natasha Bulowski
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Canada’s National Observer
The Green Party’s deputy leader resigned Tuesday for personal reasons, leaving 70-year-old Elizabeth May alone at the helm as party leader.
Jonathan Pedneault’s surprise resignation came more than a year and a half after he and May ran a successful campaign to be co-leaders in the Green Party’s last leadership contest. But before their shared leadership could take effect, party members had to agree to change the constitution to allow a co-leadership structure, a process that was delayed several times.
Pedneault said it has been “the honour of a lifetime to serve alongside Elizabeth May and Mike Morris to outstanding members of parliament who dedicate their every waking hours to Canadians, in a way that sadly, partisan politics today in Ottawa doesn’t quite exemplify.”
May is “heartbroken” Pedneault is resigning but remains committed to the concept of co-leadership. She will be looking for a co-leader to campaign alongside in the next election, assuming party membership votes to change the constitution.
“Jonathan’s decision is his decision. I respect him. I love him. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner, a better sounding board, a better voice for so many core issues that face Canadian society,” May said at the press conference in Ottawa on July 9.
Don Desserud, a University of Prince Edward Island political science professor, said being co-leader in name alone doesn’t make a leader.
“You’re not a leader because someone says you’re a leader … you’re a leader because there’s this one person that eventually people start to pay attention to, respect, admire, and are willing to follow,” Desserud said in an interview with Canada’s National Observer. “That’s an intangible quality that some people have and some people don’t have. Names don’t do it, you need a lot more than that.”
The federal Green Party is going to need a Jack Layton type as their next leader, said Desserud — someone who is popular and trusted.
In the specific case of Pedneault, Desserud said, “the old problem of being a leader without a seat” has hindered the co-leader in establishing himself in the position with the media, party members and public.
“I just don’t think he’s ever had any traction,” Desserud said.
Pedneault ran in the by-election for Montreal riding Notre-Dame-de-Grâce-Westmount and came fourth with 13.3 per cent of the vote. May said this was the best performance any Green MP has managed in a Quebec riding.
Desserud said a barrier in May’s search for someone to pass the torch to is that these days, being a national party leader is a thankless job, regardless of how large or small the party.
“It is no longer the rewarding job that it was 25 years ago. Leaders are vilified, the social media campaigns against them are legendary now, and when you’re in a small party like the Green Party, they have to work within a system that is not kind to small parties,” Desserud said. “It’s frustrating to work and work and work away at trying to get somewhere only for it to not get translated into anything tangible like seats in the House.”
He suspects there aren’t many people eager for the job, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t viable options.
P.E.I.’s former Green Party president Anna Keenan ran in the last leadership race and came second to Elizabeth May on the ranked ballot. Desserud threw Prince Edward Island MLA Matt MacFarlane’s name into the conversation, but noted that MacFarlane is not interested in pursuing leadership roles within the provincial or federal party.
He thinks P.E.I. Green Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker has the “charm, charisma and smarts” to be a “fantastic” national leader and “would really capture the attention of the imagination of the public.” But after winning a record eight seats in the 2019 provincial election, the party only managed to secure two seats in 2023. The election left Bevan-Baker wounded and uninterested in pursuing national leadership, Desserud said, but “people like that stepping forward could make a huge difference for that party.”
With the destructive effects of climate change playing out now more than ever before, Desserud said there may be an opportunity for the Greens to get back to basics and win more support than in previous elections, should they choose that route politically, instead of their 2019 strategy of playing up their non-environmental credentials.
“The Green Party probably has a far more solid base than people think,” Desserud said. He predicts a “major shake up election” where disillusioned voters may look to other parties they haven’t historically voted for.
Both Canada and the U.S. are predicting a very active hurricane season on the east coast, many regions in northern Canada are experiencing a multi year drought, and heat domes and wildfires occur across the country. Environment and Climate Change Canada analyzed four recent heat waves in Eastern Canada and concluded human-caused climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, made these heat waves “much more likely.” These heat waves clocked temperatures between 7.4 and 10.7 degrees hotter than the regional average for June.
The Green Party constitution allows May to appoint two deputy leaders. Her remaining deputy is Rainbow Eyes (Angela Davidson), a Kwakwaka’wakw land defender who received a jail sentence in April for her activities in the Fairy Creek protests.
B.C. currently has two Green MLAs out of 87, but Green MLA Adam Olsen recently announced he will not seek re-election. P.E.I. is a Green stronghold with two Green MLAs out of 27.
The federal Green Party has struggled financially in recent years. At the press conference, May said the party intends to run a full slate of candidates at the next election.
— With Files from John Woodside
