Reluctant to pick a favourite
Provincial Green MLAS support Anna Keenan's leadership bid, but only one gives full endorsement
The leader of P.E.I.’S Green party has opted not to pick a favourite in the federal Green leadership race.
Federal Green party members have begun online voting in the party’s leadership race. A new leader will be announced Nov. 19.
The leadership race was prompted by the resignation of former leader Annamie Paul, whose efforts during the last federal election were stymied by party in-fighting.
"I'm staying right out of that," Bevan-baker told Saltwire on Nov. 7.
"I'm not involved in it, I'm not endorsing anyone. I'm just going to focus my attentions and energy here on P.E.I."
Anna Keenan, a local climate activist and former president of the Green Party of P.E.I., is running in the federal leadership race. Keenan is running on a two-person slate with Montreal Green activist Chad Walcott.
Keenan and Walcott are facing off against former leader and B.C. Member of Parliament Elizabeth May, who is also running on her own two-person slate with human rights activist and journalist Jonathan Pedneault.
Former Quebec candidate Simon Gnocchini-messier and Ontario teacher Sarah Gabrielle Baron are also running as leadership candidates.
If successful, Keenan would be the first P.E.I. resident to lead a national party.
Bevan-baker said his decision to avoid endorsing a candidate was personal.
“Given the mess that the federal Green party has been for a little while now I have made a very conscious effort to devote all of my time and all of my energy to the Island Green party and the work that we're doing here," Bevan-baker said.
Bevan-baker is not alone in his approach. New Brunswick Green party leader David Coon also declined to endorse a candidate in the federal race, in an email to Saltwire.
BELL ENDORSEMENT
Green MLA Hannah Bell was more vocal than Bevan-baker about her own favourite in the race.
“I’m endorsing Anna Keenan and Chad Walcott as the coleaders,” Bell said on Nov. 7.
“I have a huge amount of respect for Anna, and her values absolutely align with where I am. But also, I think, as a younger person with a very different perspective, that’s really looking like what the federal party needs.”
Bell also said she did not believe other members of the provincial Green caucus would openly endorse a candidate. She said many felt they were “badly burned” by the internal strife that was publicly displayed during the 2021 federal election.
“The whole thing was awful. And we tend to be over-cautious because everything we do is under such a microscope,” Bell said.
Former leader Annamie Paul described the federal party’s in-fighting as “the worst period in my life.” Reports emerged that Paul had faced racism and discrimination within the party.
To date, the party has yet to publish a post-election postmortem of the events that gave rise to the in-fighting. In a Nov. 9 party-sanctioned debate, several candidates, including Walcott and May, said they believed such an investigation should be completed.
SOFT SUPPORT
Some P.E.I. Green MLAS expressed excitement that Keenan was running for the leadership.
Green MLAS Ole Hammarlund and Steve Howard both say they support Keenan but stopped short of full endorsements. Howard said Keenan would be “amazing as a leader” while Hammarlund said Keenan would be “an excellent choice.”
Karla Bernard and Michele Beaton both said they would not be endorsing anyone as a point of principle but both were excited about Keenan’s candidacy.
MLAS Lynne Lund and Trish Altass declined to indicate support for any candidate. Both told Saltwire they were not following the race closely.
Hammarlund, Howard, Beaton and Bernard attended a meet and greet event in Charlottetown with Keenan and Walcott on Nov. 9.
ATLANTIC FUNDRAISING
Keenan and Walcott appear to be clear favourites of Green donors in Atlantic Canada.
According to filings released by Elections Canada, no candidates other than Keenan and Walcott received any donations from P.E.I. during the month of September, the first month official month of the race.
Among Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I. donors, Keenan and Walcott received $7,750 donations from 64 donors. By contrast, May and Pedneault received a combined $175 from four donors in Atlantic Canada and Gabrielle Baron took in $100 from a single donor.
Across Canada, Keenan and Walcott received $35,305 from 214 donors while May and Pedneault received close to $59,000 from 174 donors between Aug. 31 and Sept. 30.
Gabrielle Baron took in $375 from five donors while Gnocchini-messier took in $1,520 from 13 donors.