Elizabeth May

I actually like Elizabeth May — she seems genuine and says things that matter. But the Greens have almost no seats and can't actually deliver policy. I agree with a lot of her ideas but Canada needs those ideas implemented, not just raised in Parliament. I respect what she stands for but at the end of the day results matter and the Greens haven't been able to produce them.

Elizabeth May is one of the more principled politicians in Ottawa — I'll give her that. But the Green Party's limited seat count means she can raise issues without actually changing much. The cost of living crisis, housing, the environment — these needed urgent government action and the Greens have been unable to deliver it. She speaks well but Canadians need results. I hope she keeps pushing but we need real policy change, not just a conscience in Parliament.

Elizabeth May has represented Saanich-Gulf Islands since 2011, making her one of the longest-serving Green MPs in Canadian history. She won her fifth consecutive term in April 2025 with 43.1% of the vote — up from 38% in 2021 — a personal result that stands in complete contrast to her party's national collapse. The Green Party finished the 2025 election with 1.2% of the national popular vote — the lowest in 25 years — and just one seat: May's own. Her co-leader Johanne Pedneault lost her race. The party was excluded from the federal leaders' debates by the Leaders' Debates Commission, which the Greens argue contributed materially to their collapse and are now challenging in Federal Court. May has served as the conscience of Parliament on climate policy for over a decade. Her individual effectiveness as an MP is widely recognized across party lines. But the Green Party she co-leads is in a genuine existential crisis — a one-person caucus with no official status, a collapsed fundraising base, and a credibility problem on electability that makes climate-focused voters reluctant to support candidates who can't win. May has said she intends to play a pivotal role in the minority Parliament. Whether a party of one can do so credibly — and whether the Greens can rebuild before the next election — are the defining questions of her current chapter.