Elizabeth May is reflecting on a “very rough election” that will see her return to the Hill as the Green Party’s sole voice — a reality that could impact what role she plays in the next Parliament.
May spoke to Parliament Today shortly after Jonathan Pedneault resigned as her co-leader, citing the need to take “responsibility” after failing to help the party “break through” in last week’s vote.
“I had hoped we were going back to Parliament with more than two. To go back with only me is not something I'd ever imagined, so that's been far harder in the last few days,” May said.
“I just console myself with thinking, ‘It could have been a lot worse for the party and our future if I hadn't won.’”
May agreed with Pedneault that the Liberal minority victory shows the need for electoral reform, admitting that until Canada moves away from a first-past-the-post system, the Greens may remain victims of “fear-based voting.”
May argued that fear played out in Mike Morrice’s riding of Kitchener Centre. Morrice was unable to hang on to the seat he’s held since 2021 despite there being provincial Green representation in the region.
Internal party polling showed Morrice could defend his post, despite the Liberals posing a challenge, May explained. Instead, Morrice lost his seat by a 0.6-point margin to CPC newcomer Kelly DeRidder.
May chalked that up to “fear-based voting,” or “so-called strategic voting,” arguing would-be Green backers flocked to the Liberals in a bid to prevent the CPC from taking the reins — which ultimately backfired in peeling support away from Morrice.
“I was in the riding as much as (Morrice) wanted me. I was there repeatedly, but they didn't feel they needed me,” May said. “The problem is once you allow fear-based voting to enter your calculations as a voter, you're as likely to guess wrong as guess right.”
May said losing Morrice on the Hill is “far more devastating” than Pedneault’s decision to leave the federal political scene, noting the latter quit as deputy leader last year only to return as co-leader in January once the party greenlighted the co-leadership model. May said Pedneault had been “ambivalent” about coming back into politics and while she “begged him to stay” this time around, she ultimately respects his decision.
Debates were ‘the only way’
In his resignation letter, Pedneault said he was taking responsibility for twice failing to win a seat, referencing a 2023 byelection in the safe Liberal riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, in which he placed fourth. Pedneault captured nearly the same level of support as the Conservatives and NDP, with the Liberals pulling ahead with just over half of the support.
Last week, Pedneault clocked in fifth for the Outremont race, which Immigration Minister Rachel Bendayan defended with over half the vote.
May said Pedneault is being too hard on himself, noting a lot was riding on him appearing on the debate stages.
The Leaders’ Debates Commission booted the Greens from the events over what it said was the party’s “strategic” decision to hold back candidates in certain ridings. Pedneault criticized the commission’s decision as undemocratic, and the party is now asking the courts to weigh in on the issue.
The Greens knew Pedneault’s 2023 byelection run was a long shot and that in the 2025 election, his presence in the debates would be “the only way” he would be able to boost his profile and have a shot at unseating Bendayan, May said.
"That was known by all of us within the Greens, so I think he took too much on himself in his resignation statement,” she said.
May called it “absurd” that Pedneault felt he had to take ownership for an electoral showing “in which the NDP lost more of a proportion of their seats than we did.” She noted NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh still lost his seat, despite being allowed on the debate stage.
Pressed on what level of responsibility she takes for the poor showing, May noted her leadership goes to a mandatory review and she will let the members “decide,” though the party’s grassroots approach means a leader’s “influence” is limited.
“I can take responsibility for what I have a chance to influence, but in the Green Party of Canada, the leader is not the boss,” she said. “The leader does not have power to hire and fire staff or make key decisions during the campaign.”
Moving forward, May said the party’s constitution does not require co-leadership, so there is no “gap” to be filled following Pedneault’s resignation, though if someone is interested in joining her as a co-captain, there is nothing hindering the party from moving on that model again.
She argued a leadership race would be a “distraction” when “stability” is needed ahead of a new parliamentary session.
“It is, of course, up to the members,” she added.
Party of one
May is not nervous about being the lone Green MP, a role she’s grown accustomed to having flown solo from 2011 to 2019 before Fredericton’s Jenica Atwin and Nanaimo—Ladysmith’s Paul Manly joined her on the Hill.
Atwin crossed the floor to the Liberals in 2021 and Manly was ousted in that year’s election by the NDP’s Lisa Marie Barron — who herself was unseated last week by CPC newcomer Tamara Kronis. Barron clocked in third with 18.3 per cent of the vote last week, just above Manly’s 18.1 per cent.
Moving forward, May said she's willing to back the Liberals on a case-by-case basis and is in the early days of mulling a run for House Speaker. That vote is among the first orders of business MPs will deal with when Parliament returns on May 26, ahead of a speech from the throne the following day.
May has long complained about a lack of decorum in the chamber, where heckling and partisan bickering have become a mainstay of question period and other parliamentary proceedings.
But she admitted that if she’s successful, being Speaker could diminish the Green’s voice in Parliament, as that member can’t participate in votes unless there is a tie and must remain impartial. She said that even when Manly and Atwin joined her in 2019, she chose not to campaign for the role despite being “very interested” in it because the other two weren’t “ready” to see her pulled away.
