Green Party's Elizabeth May reflects on unprecedented week in Canadian politics

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May speaks in the Foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Dec. 12, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

OTTAWA -

Elizabeth May says in all her years on Parliament Hill she has never seen anything like the last week in Canadian politics.

In a year-end interview with The Canadian Press, May -- now in her 13th year as the B.C. MP for Saanich--Gulf Islands -- spoke about the bombshell events on Parliament Hill, the parliamentary stalemate that has paralyzed the House of Commons for months and her thoughts on the fate of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal leadership.

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Ottawa was sent reeling last Monday as Chrystia Freeland resigned as finance minister, mere hours before she was scheduled to deliver the important fall economic statement in the House of Commons.

While the ongoing privilege debate isn't, in May's view, necessarily unprecedented, Freeland's resignation and the ensuing chaos in the House of Commons is something she says she has never witnessed before.

"Chrystia Freeland's resignation letter was the equivalent of pulling a pin out of a grenade, throwing it in the room, shutting the door," May said.

"It's, I think, quite plausibly the beginning of her campaign for Liberal leadership."

After House Speaker Greg Fergus paused the ongoing privilege debate to allow the fiscal update to be tabled, May said it was utter confusion in the House around what was supposed to happen next after Freeland's resignation.

Government House Leader Karina Gould tabled the document, but since there was no speech to be read with it, there was no opportunity for parties to respond -- even though many of them had already read it under embargo.

"I remember Ferris Bueller's Day Off and that horrible teacher saying 'Anyone? Anyone?' I mean, Greg Fergus was really frozen in time," May said.

"It wasn't at all clear that there was (going to be a presentation). And then Karina Gould deposited it, but didn't speak to it. We've never seen anything like that in parliamentary democracy in Canada."

Amid growing calls from his caucus to step down, Trudeau shuffled his cabinet on Friday, bringing in eight new ministers. Several members of his inner circle have said he is taking time to reflect on what he has heard and to determine his next steps.

While the Conservative, NDP and Bloc Quebecois leaders have also come out calling on Trudeau to step down, May told The Canadian Press there are two ways to answer the question about his future: as a party leader, and as a Canadian.

"In the course of Canadian democracy, my job is to be leader of the Green Party of Canada, and I see that job as trying to be the grown-up in the room in any set of circumstances," May said, adding that Greens "don't take partisan cheap shots."

"If I were in his shoes, I would have stepped down a long time ago. But I'm not in his shoes. I'm not leader of the Liberal party, and the Liberal party's fortunes in the next election aren't my problem."

As a Canadian, May said in the face of looming tariff threats and unprecedented "Canada-bashing" by incoming U.S. President Donald Trump, it's important to show unity as a country.

"For myself, I think: It's up to Justin Trudeau what he does, and it's up to the Liberal party what it does," May said.

"I don't know what business it is of any of (the party leaders) to help the Liberal party out by pointing out the obvious: Justin Trudeau isn't a popular leader. You'd be better off without him. But that's their business."

Reflecting on the ongoing privilege debate in the House of Commons, May said there is a potential resolution: the Liberals should turn over the documents.

At issue is a Conservative Party motion to press the Liberals to hand over documents relating to hundreds of millions of dollars of misspending on a green-tech fund to allow the RCMP to investigate the matter.

All parties have demanded the Liberals turn them over, but the Conservatives have effectively filibustered their own motion to make it happen -- and prevented any other work from proceeding since privilege debates take precedence over almost all else.

"The House has requested the documentation. However many boxes there are of unredacted documents, however helpful or useless to law enforcement is irrelevant. The House has requested it. They should be turned over," May said, adding she would also support a motion to end debate.

On climate, May reiterated her support for the carbon tax saying it's one policy the Liberals have implemented which has succeeded in reducing emissions in Canada. Though she says the pricing policy has been made unpopular by "sloganeering" -- in reference to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's "axe the tax" refrain.

Still, May reiterated how Canada is the worst performer among G7 countries at living up to its climate commitments.

She pointed to a recent example of the government pushing its goal for a net-zero electricity grid to 2050 -- a move she called "inexcusable."

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May believes Trump will once again pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement, as he did during his first presidency.

"What Pierre Poilievre does, no one knows," May said.

"Because they say they believe in climate change, and they believe in technology, not taxes, but that's not a coherent plan either. Meanwhile, the world is moving, but too slowly."

As for her own party's priorities, May said heading into an election year the goal is to make gains for the Greens, but also to improve voter turnout which has steadily declined since the Liberals won in 2015 from 68.3 per cent, down to 62.6 per cent in 2021.

"There's a steady drumbeat of inevitability of assuming the polling numbers accurately predict what's going to happen in an election," May said, pointing to Doug Ford's strong polling numbers in 2022 as a factor in Ontario's historically low turnout in its last election.

"That's a huge worry for Canadian democracy. Particularly for young people who are the least likely to vote. So how do we turn that around for the people who have the most at stake -- who are young people."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec 23, 2024