Amid record-breaking fundraising numbers from the Green Party and what leader Elizabeth May called “a rise in support overall,” former NDP leader Thomas Mulcair says the Green Party might woo progressive voters in the 2019 election.
“Progressives are looking for a home on environmental issues,” Mulcair said on an episode of CTV Question Period airing Sunday.
“Now people are seeing the Liberals, who talked a good game on environment, buying a pipeline for $4.5 billion, wanting more production in the oilsands. Mr. Singh has now decided he’s going to support a liquefied natural gas pipeline, so people who believe that environmental issues should be top of mind are…going to start paying attention to Elizabeth May’s Green Party,” he said.
It’s a theory that has teeth when confronted with fundraising figures.
The Green Party posted its best fourth-quarter fundraising numbers ever, raking in just shy of $1.5 million dollars. The party also had its strongest ever non-election year fundraising intake at a hefty $3.1 million. They're nipping at the heels of the NDP, who had their lowest fourth quarter fundraising result in eight years and took in just $5.2 million for the entire year.
May also attributes the fundraising number to her party’s consistency.
"We are not a party that flips around looking for what’s the flavour of the day. We're quite honest about what we believe, we've done our research, we talk to people," she said.
The Green Party leader has high hopes for the upcoming federal election. She said her goal is to win seats right across the country -- and May said her party might get a big break in one province in particular.
"We could get a break in Quebec. We're looking at rising support in Quebec that's really surprising people on the ground," she said.
Between the newly formed People's Party splitting the vote on the right and because of NDP provincial governments approving controversial projects like the Site C dam, May said her party is well positioned heading into 2019.
"When you have an NDP government like Alberta's…or B.C. with John Horgan approving Site C, that turned a lot of NDP voters over to the Green Party," May said.
"With the People's Party splitting the vote on the right, I'm not the least bit worried about Andrew Scheer and the Conservatives. I think this is not their election. This is an election for greens to do extraordinarily well because the wind is in our sails from public support."
Mulcair echoed May's prediction of a Green Wave washing over Canada.
"I think we might see the same sort of result we saw in the recent B.C. election where Andrew Weaver's Green Party wound up with the balance of power," he said.
"I think that Canadians might just send enough of a contingent of Green Party MPs to Ottawa this time to hold whoever would form the government… hold their feet to the fire on these environmental issues."
