Sole Green MP Elizabeth May looks to play pivotal role in minority Parliament

Olivia Stefanovich · CBC News

· Posted: May 01, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Even though Elizabeth May is the lone Green subordinate of Parliament near lasting aft the national election, the enactment person says she wants to play a cardinal relation successful the caller number Parliament.

With the Liberals conscionable a fewer seats shy of a majority, May said she's unfastened to negotiating and perchance adjacent striking a woody with Prime Minister Mark Carney successful speech for her support.

But that's lone if Carney's authorities is consenting to beforehand her priorities.

"I would ne'er person done the benignant of woody that Jagmeet Singh did with Justin Trudeau, which ignored just voting and ignored climate," May told CBC News.

Above all, May said her main extremity is getting electoral betterment — thing that she believes is imaginable to execute arsenic a caucus of one.

May said she wants Carney to perpetrate to dismantling the first-past-the-post voting strategy — a committedness that his predecessor made successful the 2015 national predetermination past famously broke.

WATCH | Elizabeth May connected Green Party's future:

If radical didn't consciousness obliged to ballot strategically, May said she believes galore Canadians would person picked antithetic candidates.

"First-past-the-post drives radical to fear-based voting … and rewards mindless hyper-partisanship," May said.

May's erstwhile co-leader, Jonathan Pedneault, cited the request for the alteration successful his resignation statement.

"[The] predetermination results were profoundly disappointing and item much than ever the request for electoral reform," helium wrote.

The Greens were hoping to marque gains. Instead, they mislaid an incumbent and Pedneault failed to triumph a Montreal riding for a 2nd time.

In total, the Greens received 244,952 votes crossed the country, representing 1.2 per cent of the ballot stock — the lowest for the enactment successful 25 years.

It's a important diminution from the momentum the enactment enjoyed successful the 2010s, which peaked successful 2019 when they received 1.19 cardinal votes and sent 3 MPs to Parliament Hill.

Along with strategical voting, May besides blames a last-minute determination by the Leaders' Debates Commission to disqualify Pedneault from the debates.

The committee said the Greens nary longer met its information requirements, a determination the enactment is present warring successful Federal Court.

Ending enactment presumption request besides a priority

Mike Morrice, May's erstwhile caucus workfellow who was defeated by the Conservatives successful the Ontario riding of Kitchener Centre, said helium wants May to keeping pushing for electoral reform.

Morrice introduced a question successful the past league of Parliament asking for the constitution of a non-partisan citizens' assembly to marque recommendations connected changes to the voting system. The question was defeated, but respective MPs from the Liberals and Conservatives broke enactment ranks to enactment it.

"We tin bash amended and that should commencement [with] proceeding from experts connected the champion way forward," helium said.

May besides said she wants to extremity the 12 MP request for recognized enactment presumption — a designation the NDP conscionable lost.

WATCH | May delievers triumph speech:

Parties without the designation don't get absorption days, guaranteed information successful parliamentary committee, entree to parliamentary backing for staff, the close to respond to statements by ministers oregon input connected the assignment of officers of Parliament.

May said she plans to enactment with the caller Speaker of the House of Commons connected the issue, unless she decides to tally for the occupation herself — thing she said she hasn't ruled out, but would beryllium hard to see with her party's position.

Used to being underestimated

Although disappointing, the results for the Greens are not arsenic atrocious arsenic pollsters predicted.

Some analysts said the Greens could've been wiped disconnected the electoral representation entirely, and adjacent immoderate of May's staunchest supporters weren't definite she could propulsion disconnected a 5th consecutive triumph successful her riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands.

In the end, those results weren't adjacent close. May kept her Vancouver Island seat, which she's held since 2011, with 39.1 per cent of the ballot share.

When the results started to determination in, May jumped to her feet and started dancing with her hubby astatine her predetermination nighttime headquarters: a picturesque winery successful her riding.

WATCH | May sings with her hubby connected predetermination night:

At the property of 70, May says she has plans to support moving arsenic agelong arsenic she can. She said she believes she proved pundits wrong due to the fact that of her dedication to her constituents.

May travels backmost to her riding each play erstwhile the House is sitting to be assemblage events. During the pandemic, she said she helped bring Canadians backmost location who were stuck abroad, including backpackers successful Peru, by personally booking and paying for their flights. She said each but 1 idiosyncratic has paid her back.

May insists the enactment is much than her and said she volition instrumentality absorption from the party's rank and national assembly connected its future.

"We evidently request to rebuild, and we request to fundraise and we request to marque definite we support moving forward," May said.

"But we are legitimately 1 of the fewer parties successful absorption that retained the spot of the leader, which is not nothing."