After taking three seats in last month’s federal election, The Green Party’s interim leader is hoping election reform comes back to the table.
The Greens took 6.5 percent of the popular vote but their three seats is less than one percent of the House of Commons.
Meanwhile the Bloc Quebecois took 7.6 percent of the vote but have 32 seats, just under ten percent.
Jo-Ann Roberts was on the NL Morning News and said things need to change. “I do think it is time to put electoral reform back on the table in some form because yes, three seats for one point one million votes or 32 seats for one point two million votes, that just doesn’t seem fair. I get that the Quebec votes were concentrated.”
Roberts said the party hs taken positive steps but Canada isn’t the only place with this problem. “In countries that have first past the post, we have broken through as Greens. Like in the UK, there’s one Green still elected there after a number of years of elections.”
What would the Greens like to see? “Generally it takes going to a proportional representation system before you have Greens elected.”
The Nova Scotia native said the Greens aren’t alone in thinking it’s time to rethink things. “There’s a lot of people across this country who are going ‘I need to feel my vote carries more representation with it’. So, that’s certainly something this current parliament will be, I hope, talking about and maybe revisiting. So we’ll see.”
Election reform was one of Justin Trudeau’s promises in the 2015 election, a promise he did not keep.
After May announced her departure this week, Roberts said the former leader has been more than a friend, she’s been an inspiration. “Well, Elizabeth was certainly the reason I chose, in the end, to run for the green party.”
“She has been such a positive force in this country. I mean, she has taken a small group of, what I would call, grass roots activists and turned them into a political force on the national stage.”
Roberts was sure the legacy May leaves behind will be long lasting “She’s also shown us what at constituent based MP can look like and for me Elizabeth is a mentor and a friend but she’ll also be, I think, one of the icons Canada will be proud of forever.”
