An otherwise humdrum provincial election campaign hasn’t hurt the momentum of the Green Party of Ontario, its leader said Wednesday, as the party made a final push for votes on election eve.
An otherwise humdrum provincial election campaign hasn’t hurt the momentum of the Green Party of Ontario, its leader said Wednesday, as the party made a final push for votes on election eve.
Building on their first win of a seat in the legislature four years ago, Green Leader Mike Schreiner said his party is running the biggest campaign in its history, buoyed by a strong performance at the leaders’ debate.
“The one party that seems to have momentum in this election campaign is the Ontario Green party,” Schreiner said during a stop in London Wednesday.
“We have more resources, more staff capacity, more volunteer engagement than we’ve ever had. . . . Electing that first seat in 2018 was critically important. Electing a second or third seat even in this election is important as we build this political movement to build the Ontario people want.”
In a campaign short on standout moments from all major parties, and after two years of pandemic-related disruptions, Schreiner said it’s “entirely understandable” Ontarians aren’t thinking about politics.
“I do think the pandemic has affected campaigns for all parties all across the province. It’s been a hard two years,” Schreiner said.
“Those experiences have affected people and I think they have affected engagement in this election.”
London was the Green party leader’s third stop of the day. He began with a morning stop in Brantford, followed by an event in St. Thomas, and was set to visit Kitchener to close out the day.
The three other major party leaders focused their campaigns on Brantford and the Greater Toronto Area.
The Greens have been pushing to increase their vote share provincewide, re-elect Schreiner in Guelph and win another seat in Parry Sound-Muskoka, an open race in a longtime Progressive Conservative stronghold with no Liberal on the ballot.
Wednesday’s London visit was Schreiner’s second of the campaign. Just days into the campaign, Schreiner announced free tuition for skilled trades students training for green economy jobs.
The party also has made platform pledges aimed at boosting affordable housing, increasing public transit ridership and encouraging Ontarians to transition to electric vehicles.
The party received between 3.7 and 4.6 per cent of the vote in the city’s three core ridings in the 2018 provincial election. Provincewide, the Greens received about 4.6 per cent of the vote in 2018 and 4.89 per cent in 2015.