New Democratic Party Leader Avi Lewis speaks during a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Mark Leiren-Young is the author of Greener Than Thou: Surviving the Toxic Sludge of Canadian Eco-Politics and the host of the Skaana podcast.
The federal Greens are looking for a new leader and, unless the NDP’s Avi Lewis wants a part-time job, I suspect the unlucky winner’s major responsibility will be delivering all their campaign signs to the recycling depot after arranging for the party’s eco-friendly burial.
Remember the nightmare/sketch comedy routine that was Annamie Paul’s brief stint as Green Party leader? In Green-land that’s now what you call, “the good ol’ days.”
Opinion: The NDP hopes Avi Lewis will set the right kind of fire to Canadian politics
In 2021, under Ms. Paul, the party ran 252 candidates, qualified for two leaders’ debates, scored 2.3 per cent of all votes and made a historic breakthrough, electing their first MP in Ontario, with Mike Morrice winning a seat in Kitchener.
In 2025, after Green Queen Elizabeth May returned to rescue her party, the Greens ran 232 candidates, didn’t qualify for the federal debates, scored 1.2 per cent of all votes and not only lost Mr. Morrice’s seat, but only a handful of their candidates got more than a few hundred votes.
Co-leader Jonathan Pedneault placed fifth in Outremont, falling just below 10 per cent of the vote. Imagine if he didn’t have a “leadership bump.”
Just over 13 per cent of the Green Party’s total national vote went to Ms. May.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May speaks in Ottawa on June 3. The party faces an uncertain future as Ms. May steps down as leader.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
This was the party’s worst vote share ever.
So, not only does Ms. Paul’s stint as leader suddenly look pretty good, so does the Jim Harris era that ended in 2006.
And the heir apparent is now, I suspect, whoever Ms. May says it is … since she ushered in co-leadership and considered stepping down in 2024 so that Mr. Pedneault – who placed third in the 2022 leadership race – could take over the party without ever being elected to take over the party.
The party is requiring their new leader (or leadership duo act) to speak both official languages (unless they’re Indigenous) – which is adorable since the Greens are about as likely to elect an MP in Quebec as they are in Fort McMurray.
With Prime Minister Mark Carney putting his Values on-hold and torpedoing climate targets and endangered orcas to combat blue Albertans and orange Presidents, he’s left his green flank exposed.
But for the Canadians whose top ballot issue is the environment – all two-dozen of ‘em – it’d be tough for Greens to come across as more eco-friendly than the newly carbon-neutral NDP.
Mr. Lewis is arguably Greener than Ms. May. Ms. May dreams big, but she’s got a pragmatic streak, because she wants to get things done. Mr. Lewis is fonder of theory and talks such a green game that provincial NDP leaders west of Manitoba – aka provinces with economies built on exploiting “resources” – are allergic to him.
The legendary 2015 LEAP Manifesto, which Mr. Lewis helped craft, reads like the Green policy playbook, but with more taxes.
What’s the value proposition for a new Green leader who wants to claim they’re greener than Mr. Lewis? Since the new NDP wants to turn off the tar sands stat, the only greener play would be campaigning to kick Alberta – and all their oil – out of confederation.
One of the great things about pretending you’re running for Prime Minister is that you don’t get to just promise that the government will create grocery stores, you can also declare that the sugary breakfast cereals they sell will only cost a nickel and come with a free shot of Ozempic. And that’s pretty much the new NDP’s approach on environmental issues. So, for Mr. Lewis, it’s arguably too easy being green.
I once suggested Mr. Lewis would be a dream Green leader, Ms. May’s husband, John Kidder, a former member of the party executive, agreed with my Substack post. He explained why the Greens would be a better home for Avi than the Lewis family compact. “If Mr. Lewis had deep political sense, like his father and grandfather, he would indeed have come to the Green Party of Canada, become leader… and yes, run in Saanich-Gulf Islands when Elizabeth retires… His emotional home turf is green. T.C. Douglas would have been Green today.”
I’m not sold Mr. Lewis will save the NDP. I think the only person who can do that is a new Tory leader who’s less likely to induce nausea (and grudging Liberal votes from potential NDP supporters) than Pierre Poilievre. But I do think Mr. Lewis is the green kryptonite that ends the Green Party.