Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner smiles as supporters clap during a press conference in Toronto on May 17.Tijana Martin/The Canadian Press
A one-person show in the Ontario Legislature last term, Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner is hoping to grow his team this election.
Mr. Schreiner made history in the 2018 election, becoming the first Green MPP elected to Queen’s Park in his fourth attempt. (With that came the first time the Green Party had an invite to the leaders’ debates.)
Leading up to the June 2 election, Mr. Schreiner said his team is focused on building upon the momentum gained over the past four years and at least double its number of elected representatives.
“As one Green MPP, we’ve had an outsized influence at Queen’s Park and most observers have said we punch well above our weight, and so we’re hoping to leverage the level of success we’ve had at Queen’s Park over the last four years into electing more Green MPPs,” Mr. Schreiner said in an interview during a visit to the riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore. “We’re confident that we’re going to increase our seat count and our vote total.”
Losing three consecutive races, Mr. Schreiner finally broke through in 2018 with 45 per cent of the vote in the riding of Guelph.
Mr. Schreiner’s campaign this year faced some turbulence, as he tested positive for COVID-19 two days after the televised leaders’ debate. Mr. Schreiner’s planned riding visits were put on hold while he continued to make virtual announcements in quarantine.
Ontario Green Party platform focuses on climate crisis with $65-billion investment
Quickly following his recovery, the leader was back on the campaign trail in his green-coloured Hyundai Ioniq 5 electric vehicle with another visit to the riding of Parry Sound-Muskoka, which polls show is the tightest race for the party to pick up another seat.
The riding, a Progressive Conservative stronghold, has been held by the party since its inception in 1999. But local Green candidate Matt Richter, in his fifth try, has made gains in recent elections, finishing third in both 2014 and 2018. With no incumbent in the race, he’s up against Bracebridge Mayor Graydon Smith as the PC candidate and Erin Horvath for the NDP.
But what’s different in Parry Sound-Muskoka this campaign is the lack of a candidate for the Liberal Party. The Liberals failed to replace the candidate it removed days before the deadline for past homophobic comments.
Mr. Schreiner said this riding, as well as those in the southwestern areas of Kitchener, Guelph and Waterloo, are where the party has had most success, but strong candidates across the board are leading to an increase in support. He pointed to University-Rosedale where deputy leader and former Ontario environmental commissioner Dianne Saxe is running for the party.
More Green representation at Queen’s Park would allow the party to further scrutinize the government and bring forward plans to address the climate crisis, Mr. Schreiner said. It would also give the leader more time to focus on specific issues.
“My schedule’s incredibly intense because I’m the critic and spokesperson for every issue so I need to be in nine places at once. That’s why it will be nice for other Green MPPs to share the load with me,” he said.
Mr. Schreiner said he’s seen momentum building for the Greens since his performance in the leaders’ debate with an uptick in donations, volunteers and sign requests. During the debate, he challenged PC Leader Doug Ford’s record on climate change and his response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Green Party platform, including a commitment to double Ontario Disability Support Program rates, has led other parties to make amendments to their plans. Mr. Schreiner pointed to the NDP’s recent pledge to double ODSP rates in the second year of taking office, matching the Greens, after previously campaigning on a 20-per-cent increase.
Now the job is to convert the plan into more votes for the party and seats in the legislature, he said.
“We’re really showing the leadership this province needs to build the kind of caring, connected, climate-ready Ontario people want. We’re putting out new solutions to old problems and a few months later, or in some cases a few days later, the other parties are responding and trying to match us,” Mr. Schreiner said.
“It just really highlights why it is so important to have Green MPPs at Queen’s Park.”
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