Falling popularity of the green party, the fault on the right?

The Green Party has collected a rate of famecal support in the federal elections and lost a deputy, while he hoped to elect three, including his ex-Cochef, Jonathan Pedneault. If only the Elizabeth May chief returns to Ottawa, how can the party project itself into the future?

Founded in 1983, the Green Party of Canada is part of the creation of several parties aimed at protecting the environment through formal policy.

If the party was on the wind in the sails for a few elections, those of 2025 ended in a new drop in popularity across the country.

Thus, in Kitchener-Center, Ontario, the outgoing deputy Mike Morrice arrived in second position behind the conservative candidate Kelly Deridder. In addition, the ex-Cochef of the Greens has since resigned.

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According to Geneviève Tellier, professor at the school of political studies at the University of Ottawa, there is a rise of the right on non -environmental issues Like the war in Ukraine which concerns Germany, for example, or economic issues in Canada. This trend night at the Green Party.

This conservative push is comparable to a pendulum movement, called to rebalance, believes the professor of political science. The analysis is the same on the side of Davide Ferrari, research manager and partner of Matrix, a group of research in European policies.

However, the Canadian political landscape presents a singularity: unlike Germany, where coalitions are frequent, especially with the Green Party, that of Canada has never managed to establish itself as a pillar of a minority government.

He never managed to take off [et] has never been a party that could support a minority governmentsays Geneviève Tellier.

Another guilty of this difficulty in unraveling, according to Davide Ferrari is the uninominal voting system in a turn, which tends to disadvantage the smallest parties.

A party looking for management

Elizabeth May is now the only head of the Green Party of Canada and she is waiting for party authorities to decide on the next steps.

In our Constitution, we must have a revision and it is up to our members to decide when there will be a new race for the chiefdomshe explains.

By presenting herself with Jonathan Pedneault, a Montreal documentary maker, she hoped to train a succession. It is not my desire to be alone chef or to be alone in Ottawaspecifies Elizabeth May.

The green Party, the part of Elizabeth May?

I left my post in 2019 exactly to have these kinds of questions anymoredeplores the politician, recalling that she presented herself as a Cocheffe when the party went through a crisis during the resignation of the former chief Annamie Paul.

For his part, Geneviève Tellier considers that it is a problem for the party to have too much adequacy between the party and Elizabeth May as a personality.

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We already have an element of response on the party situation when [Mme May] left leadership. It had not been wellrecalls Geneviève Tellier.

On the international level3, Davide Ferrari recalls that one of the difficulties of the Green Parties consists in their inability to unravel outside large urban centers or better wealthy or educated environments.

The Greens defeated by the affordability crisis?

The affordability crisis all over the West comes to harm the electoral popularity of the Greens, according to the estimate of Davide Ferrari.

During many climate marches in 2019, several green deputies were elected in Europe, a trend of qualified as wave.

“Thanks to the Greens, the Green Pact for Europe is adopted in 2020,” said the researcher.

This pact notably subjects the countries of the European Union to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 50 % by 2030 compared to 1990 emissions, then reach carbonutrality by 2050.

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The adoption of the pact is therefore proof that this party is able to push the environmental agenda, even if it is not in power, provided that the question of the environment is at the heart of the concerns of the day, specifies Davide Ferrari.

But since [2019]there is a decline of popularity of the green party […] because it depends on the priorities of the hourhe continues.

Closer to home, an example of proof that the environment is relegated to the second row is in British Columbia, according to Geneviève Tellier.

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The fact that a neo-democratic provincial government abolished carbon tax in 2025 for individuals, while this tax was portrayed as a success, clearly shows the challenges face the green parties in the countryunderlines the professor.

She believes that federal greens must confine themselves to politics because, by positioning themselves to the left of NPDthey become even more marginal.

The Green Party must present itself as having pragmatic solutions to all parties.

He must position himself as the Green Consciousness of Canadabelieves the political scientist.

Before a minority liberal government in Ottawa, Elizabeth May has work in collaboration With all the parties, a taste of a return may be more focused on the ecological question?