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Green Party of Prince Edward Island

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Green Party of Prince Edward Island
Active provincial party
LeaderKarla Bernard (interim)
PresidentKathy Low
Deputy leaderMatt MacFarlane
Founded2005; 19 years ago (2005)
HeadquartersCharlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Membership (2019)Increase 471[1]
IdeologyGreen politics
Green liberalism[2]
Social democracy[3]
Political positionCentre-left
Seats in Legislature
3 / 27
Website
www.greenparty.pe.ca

The Green Party of Prince Edward Island is a registered provincial political party and one of the three major parties in Prince Edward Island, Canada. The party was founded by Sharon Labchuk, a political organizer for the federal Green Party of Canada.[4] It is a party in the international green political tradition, espousing environmentalism, grassroots democracy, and social justice.

The party was registered in 2005 and first ran candidates in the 2007 general election. In the 2015 election, the party elected its first member of the provincial legislature: leader Peter Bevan-Baker defeated a Liberal incumbent to win the district of Kellys Cross-Cumberland with 54% of the vote.[5] The party won 8 seats in the 2019 election and, as the second largest party in the legislature, formed the Official Opposition for the first time in the history of any Green party in Canada.[6]

History

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Founding (2005–2012)

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The Green Party ran 18 candidates during its first election in May 2007, winning 3.04% of the vote, or 4.44% in ridings contested, and replacing the Island New Democrats as the Island's third party. The result was the first time a Green Party had bested a New Democratic Party at the federal or provincial level in Canada.[7] A third of all candidates won more than 5.40%. Jamie Larkin had the best result of 8.45%, followed by dentist Peter Bevan-Baker at 6.84%, Cindy Burton at 6.68%, Party leader Sharon Labchuk at 6.03%, Denise Reiser at 5.79%, and Jodie Bowmaster at 5.40%. All other candidates captured less than 5.0%; however, 14 out of the 18 candidates had placed ahead of the NDP, with two of the four candidates who finished fourth doing so by just one and two votes.[8]

The party ran a candidate in the 2007 by-election to replace Pat Binns in the riding of Belfast-Murray River. Candidate Ahmon Katz finished with 3.2%, ahead of NDP candidate Jane McNeil.[9]

In the 2011 general election, the party increased its number of candidates from 18 in the 2007 election to 22, and upped the vote share from 3% to 4.4%, or 5.3% in ridings contested, beating out the Island New Democrats for third place again. The party increased its votes per riding from 138 to 147, even though turnout in the province fell from 84% to 77%.[10] Party leader Sharon Labchuk, running in Charlottetown-Victoria Park, had the best result at 12.82%, followed by Elizabeth Schoales in Charlottetown-Brighton at 10.17%, and Peter Bevan-Baker in Kellys Cross-Cumberland at 9.36%. At 59%, the party had the highest number of women candidates in the 2011 election. The Green Party was the first Canadian political party to run more than 50% women candidates.[11]

Bevan-Baker era (2012–2023)

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Peter Bevan-Baker, party leader from 2012 to 2023 and its first MLA.

Sharon Labchuk resigned the leadership of the Green Party on July 12, 2012.[12] She was succeeded by Peter Bevan-Baker on November 3, 2012.[13] The party released its platform for the 2015 election on March 20, 2015.[14] In that election, leader Bevan-Baker was elected in the district of Kellys Cross-Cumberland with 54% of the vote, and won the party's first seat, and only the second seat ever won in the legislature for a third party.[5]

The party secured their second seat in a by-election to fill a vacancy left by retiring Charlottetown-Parkdale MLA Doug Currie on November 27, 2017. This was the first time in Island history that a third party won in a by-election.[15]

Bevan-Baker pursued a strategy of broadening the Green Party's focus so as to place social concerns such as affordable housing at the forefront, rather than its traditional association with environmentalism, in the hopes of appealing to voters and appearing as more than a single-issue party. Heading into the 2019 election, several polls showed the Green Party in the lead, with Bevan-Baker the most-liked party leader;[16][17] on election day, however, while the party won eight seats to form the official opposition, they did not win the most overall seats as recent polls predicted.[18]

The party was the official opposition from 2019 to 2023, in the 66th General Assembly of Prince Edward Island.[6] Following the 2023 election, Bevan-Baker announced his resignation as leader and was succeeded on an interim basis by Karla Bernard.[19]

In the 2024 Borden-Kinkora provincial by-election, the party president Matt MacFarlane was elected.[20]

Leadership

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Leaders

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Current MLAs

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Electoral record

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Election Leader Candidates Seats Seat Change Votes % Change Place Position
2007 Sharon Labchuk
18 / 27
0 / 27
 Steady 2,482 3.04% Steady Increase 3rd Extra-parliamentary
2011
22 / 27
0 / 27
 Steady 3,254 4.36% Increase 1.32% Steady 3rd Extra-parliamentary
2015 Peter Bevan-Baker
24 / 27
1 / 27
 Increase 1 8,857 10.81% Increase 6.45% Steady 3rd Third party
2019
27 / 27
[a]
8 / 27
 Increase 6[b] 25,302 30.56% Increase 19.75% Increase 2nd Official opposition
2023
25 / 27
2 / 27
 Decrease 6 16,134 21.57% Decrease 8.99% Decrease 3rd Third party
  1. ^ Due to the death of Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park candidate Josh Underhay on April 19, 2019,[23] the election in the district was cancelled. A deferred election was held July 15, 2019.[24]
  2. ^ The party entered the election with 2 seats, having gained one in a by-election on November 27, 2017.[25]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Ross, Shane (February 3, 2019). "Greens 'thrilled' as party celebrates best fundraising year 'by far'". CBC News. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  2. ^ Campbell, Kerry (April 23, 2019). "P.E.I. heads to the polls today — and it could make history". CBC. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  3. ^ Csernyik, Rob (April 25, 2019). "What Green Parties Everywhere Can Learn from a Rare Victory in Canada". The New Republic.
  4. ^ "Green Party works on provincial status - Green Party of Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. June 29, 2005. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Green Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker makes P.E.I. political history - CBC News | Elections PEI". Cbc.ca. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  6. ^ a b Flanagan, Ryan (April 23, 2019). "P.E.I. election results: Seven things to know | CTV News". www.ctvnews.ca. CTV News. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  7. ^ [1] Archived May 22, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Prince Edward Island Votes 2007 | District Profiles". CBC.ca. November 29, 2007. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  9. ^ [2] Archived June 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ "Green Party Loses Support Provincially After Electing First Ever MP Elizabeth May". Huffingtonpost.ca. October 14, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  11. ^ "Green Party leader Sharon Labchuk steps down | Green Party of PEI". Greenparty.pe.ca. Archived from the original on December 26, 2015. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  12. ^ Wright, Teresa (July 12, 2012). "Labchuk steps down as Green Party leader". The Guardian. Charlottetown. Archived from the original on December 4, 2012. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
  13. ^ "Bevan-Baker acclaimed as P.E.I. Green Party leader". The Guardian. Charlottetown. November 3, 2012. Archived from the original on August 19, 2013. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  14. ^ "Green Party of P.E.I. releases election platform - CBC News | Elections PEI". CBC.ca. March 20, 2015. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  15. ^ Fraser, Sara (November 28, 2017). "Green's Hannah Bell wins District 11 byelection by 157 votes". Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  16. ^ Michael, MacDonald (April 19, 2019). "All eyes on the surging Greens as Prince Edward Island goes to the polls". The Toronto Star.
  17. ^ Neatby, Stu (April 17, 2019). "EXCLUSIVE: P.E.I. Green party maintains edge in three-way race to the finish". The Guardian.
  18. ^ "Seven things to know about the P.E.I. election results". CTV News, April 23, 2019.
  19. ^ Chang, Arturo (July 21, 2023). "Karla Bernard named interim leader of P.E.I.'s Green Party". CBC News. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  20. ^ a b "P.E.I. Green Party candidate unofficially wins Borden-Kinkora by-election". Atlantic. February 7, 2024. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  21. ^ Wright, Teresa (July 17, 2012). "Green Party of P.E.I. appoints interim leader". The Guardian. Charlottetown. Archived from the original on December 2, 2012.
  22. ^ a b MacDonald, Mitch (April 23, 2019). "UPDATE: Greens make history in P.E.I. | The Journal Pioneer". www.journalpioneer.com. Journal Pioneer. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  23. ^ Ross, Shane (April 20, 2019). "P.E.I. Green candidate, son die in canoeing accident days before election". CBC News. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  24. ^ "Byelection to be held in District 9 Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park due to death of candidate". The Guardian. April 20, 2019. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  25. ^ "Green's Hannah Bell wins District 11 byelection by 157 votes". CBC News. November 27, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
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