2020 Green Party of Canada leadership election

• October 24 – Elizabeth May announced that she would step down as leader within the next four years, but intended to continue for "the near term", as an early election could complicate the transition.[6]
• November 3 – A group of party members launched a petition calling for an open leadership race to ensure the "long-term prosperity of the party"; among those members was Green Party of Quebec leader Alex Tyrrell, who later became a candidate for the leadership himself.[7]
• November 4 – May announced she was stepping down as leader effective immediately. Jo-Ann Roberts was named interim leader. May stayed on as the parliamentary leader in the House.[4]
• November 5 – David Merner announces his candidacy.[8][9]
• December 2 – Julie Tremblay-Cloutier announces her candidacy.[10]

• January 15 – Alex Tyrrell, leader of the Green Party of Quebec, announces his candidacy.[11][12]
• January 23 – Judy Green & Constantine Kritsonis announce their candidacies.[13]
• January 30 – Annamie Paul announces her candidacy.[14]
• February 3 –
  • The rules for the leadership race were released, including the announcement of a $50,000 entrance fee requirement for candidates.[15]
  • Constantine Kritsonis withdraws his candidacy as a result of the rules.[15]
• February 4 – Nomination period opens.[16]
• February 14 – Julie Tremblay-Cloutier withdraws her candidacy.[17]
• February 24 – Don Elzer announces his candidacy.[18]
• March 9 – Amita Kuttner announces their candidacy.[19]
• March 11 – Dimitri Lascaris announces his candidacy.[20]
• March 17 – Dylan Perceval-Maxwell announces his candidacy.[21][22]
• March 24 – The candidacy of Annamie Paul is approved.[23]
• April 4 – The candidacy of David Merner is approved.[24]
• April 22 – The candidacy of Amita Kuttner is approved.[25]
• April 29 – Glen Murray, former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister, former MPP for Toronto Centre and former Mayor of Winnipeg, declares his candidacy.[26][27][28]
• May 6 – The party reduced the entrance fee from $50,000 to $30,000, citing difficulty fundraising due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.[2]
• May 11 – The candidacy of Glen Murray is approved.[29]
• May 15 – Andrew West announces his candidacy.[30]
• May 22 – Meryam Haddad announces her candidacy.[31][32][33]
• May 26 – The candidacy of Dimitri Lascaris is rejected by the party, pending appeal.[34]
• May 29 – The candidacy of Dylan Perceval-Maxwell is approved.[35]
• June 2 –
  • The candidacy of Dimitri Lascaris is reinstated and approved following the appeal of his disqualification.[36]
  • The candidacy of Judy N. Green is rejected by the party, pending appeal.[37]
• June 3 –
  • The candidacy of Meryam Haddad is approved.[38]
  • Alex Tyrrell withdraws his candidacy.[39]
  • Don Elzer withdraws his candidacy.
  • 6 PM PDT – Nomination period closes.[16] Initial entrance fee of $10,000 due.[2]
• June 10 – The candidacy of Judy N. Green is reinstated and approved following the appeal of her disqualification.[40][41]
• June 11 –
  • The candidacy of Andrew West is approved.[42]
  • Courtney Howard announces her candidacy.[43]
• June 12 – The candidacy of Courtney Howard is approved.[44]
• June 21 – A debate hosted by Fair Vote Canada is held.[45][46]
• June 23 – June 24 – A two-part debate hosted by The Agenda with Steve Paikin is held, with both parts to be broadcast on TVO and online.[47][48][49][50]
• August 1 – September 1 – Leadership candidates must supply signatures of 150 party members, at least 20 of which must be from each of six regions. Signatures are in addition to 100 signatures provided with leadership application.[16]
• September 1 – Deadline for receipt of secondary non-refundable fee of $20,000 (in addition to $1,000 at time of filing application to run and $9,000 ten days after application received).[16][2]
• September 3 at 11:59 PM PDT – deadline to become a member of the Green Party and be eligible to vote.[16]
• September 25 – deadline for receipt of mail-in ballots.[16]
• September 26 – online voting begins.[16]
• October 3 –
  • 3:30 PM PDT – online voting ends.[16]
  • 5 PM PDT – results announced.[16]

Judy N. Green

Background

Judy N. Green is a computer scientist, veteran and small business owner from Nova Scotia who was the candidate for West Nova in 2019.[53]

Candidacy announced: 23 January 2020[13]

Disqualified: 2 June 2020[37]

Reinstated and approved: 10 June 2020[40][41]

Date registered with Elections Canada:

Campaign website: judyngreen.com

Policies

• Advocates for mitigation and adaptation in the face of the Climate Crisis.[54]
• Supports UNDRIP, the report on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, the right to self governance and the rights of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs.[55]
• Ensure policy decisions involve membership approval.[53]
• Supports a guaranteed minimum income.[53]

Notes

Green's candidacy was rejected by the party's vetting committee on June 2, which was appealed.[37] The appeal was accepted and her candidacy was reinstated on June 10.[41]

Meryam Haddad

Background

Meryam Haddad, 32, is an immigration lawyer from Montreal, Quebec who was the candidate for Châteauguay—Lacolle in 2019. Haddad immigrated from Syria at the age of 5 and has been a resident of Montreal since. She holds a bachelor's degree in law from the University of Ottawa. She is openly lesbian.

Candidacy announced: 22 May 2020[31][32][33]

Candidacy approved: 3 June 2020[38]

Date registered with Elections Canada:

Campaign website: meryam2020.ca

Policies

• Running as a socialist.[32]
• Restructure the party to emphasize on inclusivity and diversity.[56]
• Implement a Green New Deal.[56]

Background

Courtney Howard is an emergency room physician from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and president of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.[43]

Candidacy announced: 11 June 2020[43]

Candidacy approved: 12 June 2020[44]

Date registered with Elections Canada:

Campaign website: drcourtneyhoward.ca

Policies

• Redefine the Green Party as the party of "a healthy planet for healthy people".[43]
• Supports a stronger social safety net and guaranteed minimum income.[43]

Background

Amita Kuttner, 29, is an astrophysicist from North Vancouver, currently living on Lasqueti Island.[57][58] They formerly served as the Green Party's Science and Innovation Critic.[59][19] During the 2019 federal election, Kuttner was the party's candidate for Burnaby North—Seymour.[57] They are openly non-binary and pansexual, and use they/them pronouns.[60][61][62] Kuttner has refused to hold fundraising events with former leader Elizabeth May, saying the offer of assistance with fundraising does not address other systematic inequalities in the race.[63]

Candidacy announced: 9 March 2020[19]

Candidacy approved: 22 April 2020[25]

Date registered with Elections Canada:

Campaign website: amitakuttner.ca

Policies

• Universal Pharmacare, dental care, vision care, mental care, and preventative health measures.[64]
• Free post-secondary tuition.[65]
• Introduce new policy regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI), such as a Robot Tax, to protect Canadian workers.[66][67]
• Commit to protecting 30% of aquatic habitat and 30% of terrestrial habitat in Canada by 2030 along with increasing funding to develop recovery plans and protections for endangered species.[68]
• Guaranteed livable income, development of unions in sectors where they are absent, better legislation for workers’ rights.[69]
• Housing as a human right, including investment in social housing and federal funding of non-market solutions.[67]

Dimitri Lascaris

Background

Dimitri Lascaris is a lawyer and activist from Montreal, Quebec who sits on the Quebec Greens' executive council. He was the federal candidate for London West in 2015 and is the former Justice Critic in the Green Party's shadow cabinet (2016).[10]

Candidacy announced: 11 March 2020[20]

Disqualified: 26 May 2020[34]

Reinstated and approved: 2 June 2020[36]

Date registered with Elections Canada:

Campaign website: teamdimitri.ca

Policies

• Institute labour reforms to increase union membership.[73]
• Prevent the use of replacement workers during strikes.[73]
• Raise the minimum wage to $20 per hour.[73]
• Increase income tax on wealthy Canadians and institute a cap on wealth.[73]
• Make housing a human right.[73]
• Dramatically reduce military spending.[73]
• Support BDS movement.[74]

Notes

Lascaris' candidacy was rejected by the party's vetting committee, which was appealed.[34] The appeal was accepted on June 2, and his candidacy was reinstated and approved.[75]

David Merner

Background

David Merner, 57, is the former Green Party Critic for Justice (2018–2020), and was the Green Party candidate for Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke in 2019. From 2012 to 2013, he was the president of the Liberal Party of Canada's British Columbia wing and was their candidate for Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke in 2015. Prior to entering politics, Merner was a lawyer at the Department of Justice and for the Privy Council Office (Canada) as well as the Ministry of Attorney General of British Columbia.

Candidacy announced: 5 November 2019[8][9]

Candidacy approved: 8 April 2020[24]

Date registered with Elections Canada:

Campaign website: davidmerner.com

Policies

• Invest in the development of public transportation at the local level, including railways.[84]
• Free tuition.[84]
• Universal Pharmacare.[84]
• Decriminalize drugs & provide a safe drug supply.[85]
• Implement 20-point plan to address the climate crisis and shift to a green economy.[86]
• Adopt a system of proportional representation.[87]

Glen Murray

Background

Glen Murray, 62, is the former Liberal MPP for Toronto Centre (2010–2017) and a former cabinet minister under Premiers Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne, most notably as the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change (2014–2017). Murray previously ran for the Liberals in Charleswood—St. James in 2004. In addition, he has also served as city councillor (1989–1998) and Mayor of Winnipeg (1998–2004), where he currently resides. He has also been the CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute (2007–2010), and executive director of the Pembina Institute (2017–2018).

Candidacy announced: 29 April 2020[26][27][28]

Candidacy approved: 11 May 2020[29]

Date registered with Elections Canada:

Campaign website: green-glen.ca

Policies

• Work to incrementally develop a zero-waste, carbon-neutral economy and Smart Cities.[88]
• Transition workers from old industries to new ones.[88]
• Use revenue from carbon pricing to help lower and modest income communities and households cut costs and pollution through financing and grants.[88]
• Supports a Guaranteed Livable Income and funding Pharmacare.[88]
• Supports UNDRIP.[88]
• Supports changing electoral system to proportional representation.[88]

Annamie Paul

Background

Annamie Paul, 47, is a lawyer from Toronto who was the Green Party Critic for Global Affairs (2019–2020). She was the Green candidate in Toronto Centre in 2019. She holds a law degree from University of Ottawa and a master's degree from Princeton University.

Candidacy announced: 30 January 2020[14]

Candidacy approved: 24 March 2020[23]

Date registered with Elections Canada:

Campaign website: annamiepaul.ca

Policies

• Improve social security nets, particularly for times of crisis.[89]
• Free post-secondary tuition & forgiveness of federal loan debt.[89]
• Supports a Guaranteed Livable Income (GLI).[89]
• Make bailouts for sectors or private corporations, such as fossil fuels, contingent on meeting agreed emission reduction targets and not investing further in the industry.[89]
• Withdraw from the Safe Third Country (STC) Agreement, which redirects asylum seekers to the United States, and continue allowing access for refugees to enter Canada.[89]
• Universal Pharmacare, dental care, & the recognition of mental health as an important pillar of health funded accordingly.[89]

Dylan Perceval-Maxwell

Background

Dylan Perceval-Maxwell is a Montreal activist and businessman. He was the Green Party candidate in Laurier—Sainte-Marie five times from 1997 to 2008 and the candidate in Alfred-Pellan in 2011.[99] His 2006 campaign is the subject of the NFB documentary Democracy 4 Dummies.[100]

Candidacy announced: 17 March 2020[21][22]

Candidacy approved: 29 May 2020[35]

Date registered with Elections Canada:

Campaign website: dylanperceval-maxwell.ca

Policies

• Provide carbon-negative power solutions (biochar) for heating, transport, and industry.
• Implement a Guaranteed Livable Income (GLI).[101]
• Gradually lower income tax to zero beginning with those earning under $30,000 a year.
• Favours green behaviors with additional taxes on environmentally negative choices and by decreasing taxes on healthy lifestyle choices.
• Implement the Tobin Tax (an international tax on financial transactions)
• Nationwide free public transit and free tuition for college and undergraduate degrees.
• Institute online non-binding referendums for new bills.

Andrew West, 45, is an Ottawa-based lawyer and the Green Party of Ontario critic for the Attorney General (2015–present). He stood as the provincial candidate in Carleton—Mississippi Mills in 2014, the federal candidate in Kanata—Carleton in 2015 and provincially in 2018, and as the provincial candidate in the 2020 Orléans by-election.

Candidacy announced: 15 May 2020[30]

Candidacy approved: 11 June 2020[42]

Date registered with Elections Canada:

Campaign website: andrewwest.ca

Policies

• Running as a moderate.[30][102]
• Court Conservative voters.[30][102]
• Switch the electoral system to proportional representation.[103]
• Institute moratorium on oil sands development and redirect subsidies to renewable energy.[104]
• Supports a guaranteed livable income.[105]
• Develop a realistic timeline for balancing the federal budget.[106]

Background

Don Elzer, 62, is an environmental activist, businessman, and former journalist from Vancouver, British Columbia. He is the founder and owner of Wildcraft Forest, a natural health company. He currently resides just outside of Lumby with his family.

Candidacy announced: 24 February 2020[18]

Withdrew: 3 June 2020

Campaign website: donelzer.com

Notes

Withdrew via email.

Background

Constantine Kritsonis, 62, is a former Ontario representative on the Green Party Council. He stood as the Green Party of Canada candidate for York Centre in 2015, 2011, 2006, 2004 and 1997, and the Green Party of Ontario candidate in Oakwood in 1995.[107]

Candidacy announced: 23 January 2020[13]

Withdrew: 3 February 2020[15]

Notes

Withdrew following announcement of the election rules, citing the entrance fee at the time of announcement, $50,000, being too high.[15]

Background

Julie Tremblay-Cloutier, 48, is a businesswoman from Oka who was the Green Party candidate for Mirabel in 2019, and a candidate for Oka City Council in 2017. Prior to entering politics, Tremblay-Cloutier was the head of a local pool and spa inspection company.[108]

Candidacy announced: 2 December 2019[10]

Withdrew: 14 February 2020[17]

Notes

Withdrew citing the leadership election rules, her lack of experience and resources to do fundraisers, and her concern that ideas and debates would become secondary to raising funds.[17]

Alex Tyrrell

Background

Alex Tyrrell, 32, is the leader of the Green Party of Quebec (2013–present), and was the provincial candidate for Verdun in 2018 with 80 votes, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce in 2014, and Jacques-Cartier in 2012. He was also the candidate in the Outremont, Chicoutimi, Gouin, Louis-Hébert, and Roberval by-elections in 2013, 2016, May 2017, October 2017 and 2018, respectively.[109]

Candidacy announced: 15 January 2020[11][12]

Withdrew: 3 June 2020[39]

Campaign website: alextyrrell.ca

Notes

Withdrew citing "Elizabeth May and her associates meddling in the election".[39]