Green co-leader Elizabeth May holds B.C. seat for 5th term

The Green Party of Canada’s flagship federal seat, occupied by B.C. parliamentarian Elizabeth May since 2011, will remain in the control of the party’s co-leader after a decisive victory on Monday night.

“The reason we were successful here … was from the devotion and commitment of volunteers,” said the 70-year-old on election night about the 250 volunteers on her campaign.

“We are here … we are not going away,” she said later about the Greens, who otherwise appeared to be having a disappointing night, looking set to lose its only other seat in the House of Commons.

The party’s other co-leader, Jonathan Pedneault, finished third in the Quebec riding of Outremont.

On Monday, May was declared the winner in Saanich-Gulf Islands with 40 per cent of the vote. The Conservatives’ Cathie Ounsted won 28 per cent of the vote and the Liberals’ David Beckham got 27 per cent.

Over the course of the campaign, polling aggregators showed the riding was a toss-up between the Greens and the Conservatives.

May maintained all along that it was her ground game, including relentless door-knocking, that would carry her to another victory, shunning aggregators as being out of touch with what was happening in neighbourhoods.

WATCH | Elizabeth May addresses supporters:

In her victory speech she drew attention to her ability as an opposition party leader to get re-elected, citing the failure of both the NDP’s Jagmeet Singh and the Conservatives’ Pierre Poilievre to do so.

Singh conceded his Burnaby Central riding and resigned as NDP party leader, while Poilievre was trailing Liberal candidate Bruce Fanjoy by 2,500 votes in his Carleton riding with polls yet to report.

The risk of being viewed as a one-issue party — the environment — did not seem to catch up with her campaign as it did across the country for other Green candidates in what turned out to be a two-party race between the Liberals and Conservatives over the U.S. threat of Canada’s economy and sovereignty.

Along with Pedneault’s third-place finish in Quebec, Mike Morrice, the Green incumbent for Kitchener Centre in Ontario, was trailing the Conservatives’ Kelly DeRidder by around 700 votes as of 10:30 p.m. PT.

May said to supporters in her victory speech that Pedneault’s chances were hurt after he wasn’t able to perform during the televised leaders debate in Quebec, which the Greens are challenging in Federal Court.

She criticized the mainstream media for promoting a two-party race, which she said took on a life of its own in her riding.

“It developed a momentum based on a rumour and it became a very hard thing to fight,” she said.

The Greens’ overall vote share in the election roughly halved to around 1.2 per cent, down from 2.33 per cent in 2021.

Mark Carney call

May said she had spoken to Liberal Leader Mark Carney, who congratulated her on her victory. She said he told her he looked forward to working with her in the House of Commons.

Leading up to voting day, May said neither federal New Democrats nor federal Liberals are credible voices on the environment and defended the Green Party as being more than just an environmental party.

“If anyone looked at our platform in this election … we have the most innovative ideas for economic sovereignty,” she said

“[We] actually pay attention to where we find the government revenue to pay for our programs. So, as to whether there’s a place for the Green Party in Canadian politics, absolutely.”