Barry Ellsworth
November 04, 2019•Update: November 05, 2019
TRENTON, Canada
Elizabeth May stepped down as leader of Canada’s Green political party Monday.
“As of today, I am no longer leader of the Green Party of Canada,” she said.
The Greens – a political party with environmental issues as its main concern – had a breakthrough of sorts when it won three seats in the October Canadian federal election.
Up to that point, May was the only elected representative of the party in Parliament.
The Green Party was founded in 2001 and May has been leader since 2006.
May said the party is in good shape so she feels comfortable vacating her role as leader.
“We achieved more than one million votes for the first time,” May said. “As I look around the world…there is no other country with first-past-the-post that has achieved what we’ve achieved.”
First-past-the-post refers to Canada’s political system where only the person with the most votes wins the election and takes a seat in Parliament.
However, May will continue as a member of Parliament.
She said she will hound the winning Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to make “massive” and “transformative” moves to tackle climate change.
