OTTAWA—Elizabeth May considered stepping down as leader of the Green Party to make way for former deputy leader Jonathan Pedneault to be appointed as her successor before Pedneault ultimately quit last month, the Star has learned.
It was one of several options discussed at a private meeting of the party’s federal council the night before Pedneault resigned and left the party, May confirmed after the Star obtained a draft of an email she was preparing to send to party members had the leadership been transferred.
Pedneault joined the Green Party nearly two years ago on a bid to co-lead the party with May, but abruptly resigned for “personal reasons” last month. Behind the scenes, the Star has reported, the human rights activist had been frustrated by “internal roadblocks” that delayed making him an official co-leader, which party sources said could have played a role in his exit.
The revelation that May was willing to quit as leader sheds light on the discussions ahead of Pedneault’s decision to quit the party and leave May as its sole leader, and confirms the decision was not final until an emergency meeting held the night before his announcement.
When reached by the Star, Pedneault declined to comment.
May told the Star she could not elaborate on the confidential details of the discussions that night, but said the party’s elected federal council was not “ready to make a decision” on transferring leadership.
In the draft email, May described Pedneault’s ascent to the party’s leadership as the solution to finding her successor without a large Green caucus in Parliament. Amid delays in implementing co-leadership and because the Canadian election system requires one designated leader, “Canadians need to know who will lead the party in the next election — whenever it may be,” she wrote.
“Jonathan Pedneault is that leader,” she wrote. “He is a far better communicator than me in both official languages. He has a heart for justice and a political instinct for success. We need him in Parliament as soon as possible. This means we must have a breakthrough in Quebec and a strategy to get there.”
May told the Star she still intends to pursue co-leadership and has no plans to leave the party. She has previously argued her timeline for implementing co-leadership would have been “more aggressive,” but has pushed back against suggestions the delays played a role in Pedneault’s exit.
“Jonathan and I were determined to be a team going into the next election, that’s what we always wanted to do,” she said.
“When he said, ‘My reasons are personal,’ that remains the case,” she said. “So we had a couple of different options and outcomes.”
The pair had been considering the party’s readiness for a snap federal election call as pressure mounted on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step aside, May said. She said it was her hope that Pedneault would represent the party in leaders’ debates in the next campaign, providing a “refreshing” change.
However, it’s unclear if Pedneault would have been made an official co-leader by that point due to delays in the process. May returned to the party’s leadership in 2022 on a pledge to co-lead with Pedneault. A new leadership structure would have meant changes to the party’s constitution, which would have required a consensus of its members. Nearly two years later, there hasn’t been an official discussion of the proposal with party members, as several special meetings have been pushed back.
The party has previously denied there were any “unnecessary delays” in implementing co-leadership.
Interim executive director Jon Irwin told the Star in an email the party was “thrilled” May remains its leader.
In any case, May said she would have sought re-election in the next federal election campaign, which is scheduled for fall of 2025.
“I want to reassure members I’m not going anywhere,” she told the Star. “I’m totally ready for a 2025 campaign.”
The result of the meeting about the party’s leadership was “not the worst outcome,” she said, “but it’s heartbreaking for me because I really miss Jonathan.”
May, 70, will remain the sole official leader of the party going into the next election, she said. The party is currently polling members to gauge interest in moving to co-leadership and will hold a special meeting to discuss what it would look like if members express interest in the change, which many other Green parties have made.
But what kind of co-leader is May looking for? It’s still too early to tell, but the possibilities are “infinite,” she said.
“I’d say obviously younger,” she said. “The one thing I would not imagine as a co-leader with me would be another white, Anglo, baby-boomer woman.”
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