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Then-Green Party MP Mike Morrice speaks to reporters in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hillin November, 2023.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Former MP Mike Morrice is the only candidate left in the race for the leadership of the federal Green Party – but he’ll still have to make his pitch to the party’s membership before he gets the job.
Nira Dookeran announced Tuesday she was withdrawing from the contest “after much soul-searching,” citing personal and family reasons.
The two were the only candidates to come out of the nomination process to replace Elizabeth May earlier this summer.
“I want to express my best wishes to Mike Morrice, my fellow candidate in the leadership contest,” Dookeran said in her statement.
“We, as a party, have a big job ahead of us.”
Mike Morrice, Nira Dookeran running for Green Party leadership
Morrice was elected in Kitchener Centre in 2021 but lost to a Conservative candidate by fewer than 400 votes in the last federal election.
He also finished second in the 2019 election, losing to the Liberals.
Speaking to The Canadian Press on Wednesday, Morrice said he was awaiting word from the party on the next steps in the process to choose a new leader.
In an e-mail, a spokesperson for the Greens said the party’s constitution still requires a vote, even when only one leadership candidate remains.
“Mike Morrice will therefore not be elected by acclamation and the leadership vote will proceed. At this time, we do not have confirmation on the timeline. We will release this information as soon as it becomes available,” Mercedes Bacon-Traplin said.
“Under the leadership contest rules, the remaining scheduled debates will also proceed in the form of town halls.”
The vote, she added, will include Morrice’s name as one option as well as “none of the above.” He still needs to secure a majority of votes to succeed.
Morrice said he doesn’t plan to run in any of the six pending by-elections to replace MPs who resigned at the end of the summer.
“The plan is to win back Kitchener Centre at the first opportunity, recognizing how important it is to have the leader of the party in the House of Commons,” Morrice said in an interview.
“And for my community, how much more of a platform I hope to give folks in Kitchener Centre to hopefully be back in the House of Commons as leader of the party.”
Morrice stands to take over the Greens after the federal government has clawed back many of the emissions reduction measures implemented by former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
In a video in June, Prime Minister Mark Carney said the Trudeau government’s plan was too expensive and divisive and “not sustainable over the long term,” while acknowledging Canada’s emissions will rise under his plan.
“I’m making clear that, as leader, I think we need to be really focused on how life has gotten more expensive for most people in this country, but it’s as a result of this continued wealth transfer we’re seeing from regular folks to the billionaire class,” Morrice said.
“Something else that’s changed in the last year and a bit is that Canadians are being told that we’re going to send tens of billions of dollars more of our money to extremely profitable, mostly foreign-owned oil and gas companies to build another pipeline that will make the climate crisis worse at a time when wildfires are still ravaging all across the country.”
Morrice said Canada needs “progressive options” and Liberal and Conservative policies are largely aligned.
“And so I think there’s a huge opportunity for progressives in this country to fight for prioritizing people, prioritizing the investments we need in things like housing, health care and child care, recognizing that we need an economy that works for the 99 per cent,” he said.
“That means taxing the ultra rich while also taking decisive action on the climate emergency.”