Friday February 28, 2025 | SALT SPRING, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Green Party of Canada co-leader Elizabeth May will be campaigning in Guelph on International Women’s Day tomorrow, Saturday March 8. But first she will be checking out her new campaign office in Sidney BC (which will officially open on St Patrick’s Day — because it’s a day to be Green of course!).
She’s been actively campaigning in small towns and in her own riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands and in other ridings in the last few weeks, as the 2025 federal election approaches.
This year, May is seeking re-election for a fifth term as the MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands. She was first elected there in 2011 and re-elected in 2015, 2019 and 2021.
Spring election:
The 2025 federal election is expected to come this spring (after the Liberals choose a new leader who becomes the next prime minister). If the new Liberal prime minister is Mark Carney it’s likely he will call a snap election so that firstly the Liberals will avoid being asked why they have no prime minister in the House, says May. Carney does not yet have a seat in the House of Commons.
May also feels that Canadians deserve an election as soon as possible so that there is stronger momentum for dealing with the tariff threats and other disruptions by US President Donald Trump. She believes the election will be called even before the current prorogued parliament is scheduled to return on March 24.
Any of the other candidates, should they become prime minister, may take a little while longer to see some legislation passed to bolster supports for workers who are likely to be impacted by the US-imposed tariff war.
An election this spring would re-establish the Canadian parliament and the winning party that forms government (majority or minority) to deal with the four years ahead in which the US President is expected to continue causing economic disruption in this country.
As a long-time parliamentarian, May hopes for a minority government that sees cooperation from all sides of the House.
Tariff scenario:
The Green Party campaign platform is not public yet. But May says the current debate about Employment Insurance (EI) includes adjusting it in “other ways” while protecting sectors and regions during the impact of US tariffs.
“But ideally we avoid increases in unemployment,” is May’s response, not looking at the broader picture of EI reform (a system first designed in the 1950s and not revised much since then).
“Canadian unity is going to be really stressed by an election campaign,” says May, under the current scenario of the Trump tariff situation. “I hope we can hang onto our civility.”
But due to the Trump pressures Canada will become more self reliant and self sufficient as an economy than ever before, she feels.
A lot of our platforms as parties are going to be about that very thing. How do we confront the Trump White House, how do we protect the Canadian economy.
Two Greens in Canada, soon maybe more:
May’s Green Party seat here on South Vancouver Island is one of two Green seats in the country (May and Mike Morrice in Kitchener Centre). She founded the Green Party of Canada. She is now serving as co-leader along with Jonathan Pedneault who rose to that challenge in January.
The highly experienced politician and parliamentarian Elizabeth May has a strong ground game in Saanich-Gulf Islands. Here’s the slate so far:
- Green – Elizabeth May (incumbent since 2011)
- NDP – Colin Plant (school teacher, Saanich municipal councillor and Capital Regional District chair)
- Conservative – Cathie Ounsted (former Victoria police officer, director of operations at Thrifty Foods for 10 years, Peninsula Co-op board member and Victoria Airport Authority board chair).
- Liberal – no candidate at present
But May is enthusiastically predictive that after federal election 2025 there will be more than two Greens in the House of Commons. “Oh there’s no doubt about that!” she told Island Social Trends today.
So far the Greens have 57 federal candidates in place. May feels hopeful for Dr Anne-Marie Zajdlik in Guelph, Michael Doherty in Victoria, and for Jonathan Pedneault in Outrement (the Montreal riding where former NDP Leader Tom Mulcair was MP, and where the Liberals have held the seat since 2019).
On south Vancouver Island Kathleen Code is the Green candidate in Cowichan-Malahat-Langford. The Green candidate for Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke has yet to be announced
March 8 is Women’s Day:
Elizabeth is the only woman leader of a federal political party. Her thoughts on Women’s Day (March 8) lean immediately to the two major setbacks of our current time: women losing all social interactive status in Afghanistan when the Taliban took power again (in August 2021) and the overturning of Roe vs Wade by the US Supreme Court.
“We’ve seen massive setbacks,” says May. But she immediately jumps to honouring the resilience of women, says May. The rights of women, LGBT and trans people are human rights, she says.
Trump talk:
Elizabeth May has been openly vocal about US President Trump before now. Today she says: “Canada has to be not just protecting ourselves from Trump. We have to be a beacon of hope and an island of sanity for the world.”
“We have to protect people under assault and people who feel marginalized or precarious. We have to be with our allies, whether it’s other Commonwealth countries, the European Union. You look around the world, we’re not alone,” says May.
“But we have to be very very clear that we’re standing up not just to defend Canada from Trump we’re defending human rights and democracy and climate action, from right-wing populist fascists wherever we find them — whether they’re Trump or Putin or Netanyahu.” says May.
“We have to stand up for international law, human rights. and democracies everywhere,” she told Island Social Trends today.
She calls Trump incredible unpredictable. and I think Trudeau’s right saying that anything is possible including that (Trump) wants to destroy the Canadian economy so he can seize our resources or take our territory. All of that’s possible. But so far none of that has happened. So we have be very based on evidence and an economic plan to defend Canada.”
She says the Green Party plan is more solid and detailed than anyone else’s.
The platform will include a 36-point plan to defend Canada from Trump including taking down interprovincial trade barriers, creating strategic reserves of Canadian resources so the resource sectors are able to sell to a government-run Canadian crown corporation, to create strategic reserves.
“The only one we have right now is for maple syrup,” she notes, pointing out that there’s room for that for strategic reserves of forest products, potash, and aluminum. That would protect the resources sectors and the workers in them.
===== RELATED:
- NDP leader says next G7 meeting should be a summit about Trump (March 6, 2025)
- English Liberal leadership debate was good exposure (February 26, 2025)
- Elizabeth May gunning for 5th term in Saanich-Gulf Islands (April 24, 2024)
- NEWS SECTIONS: CANADIAN FEDERAL ELECTION 2025 | LIBERAL PARTY OF CANADA | CANADA-USA