Green Party Leader Elizabeth May says she regrets supporting the Liberal government in previous confidence votes, accusing Prime Minister Mark Carney and his government of abandoning climate commitments while pushing ahead with pipeline development.“I was a fool,” May told a sparsely attended House of Commons during her final parliamentary address as Green Party leader.“I voted for the budget last year because the Prime Minister stood and committed to achieving the Paris Agreement targets,” she said.“I was a fool to believe the Liberals. I have repented for being a fool. I see clear-eyed now. They are building pipelines.”Blacklock's Reporter said May, 72, who represents the British Columbia riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands, made the comments Friday during debate on the federal government's latest budget.She said she would not repeat her decision to support the Liberals, declaring her opposition to the government's fiscal plan.“Spoiler alert, but that will not be happening again,” May said.“I will not be voting for this budget. I am appalled on numerous levels by the budget.”May recalled struggling with the 2025 federal budget before ultimately becoming the only opposition MP to vote in favour of it.“Last year I struggled with the 2025 budget,” she said.“I discussed it with members of the Prime Minister’s staff, with the Prime Minister and with the former minister of the environment. In the end, I was the only opposition member to vote for the government’s budget.”Her change of position comes as the Green Party prepares for another leadership transition.Former Green MP Mike Morrice, who represented Kitchener Centre in Ontario, is expected to be acclaimed national leader on November 14.Morrice would become the party's sixth leader in seven years..May has repeatedly made climate policy a condition of her support for Liberal governments since the party first formed a minority government in 2019.In an October 24, 2019 letter to then-prime minister Justin Trudeau, she demanded tougher emissions reduction targets.She warned Canada needed to strengthen its commitments to combat climate change and expressed disappointment with Trudeau's record.“I am massively disappointed in his performance as Prime Minister,” she said at the time.May also warned of what she described as catastrophic consequences if governments failed to address climate change.“We are facing something as dire as the loss of civilization, and that’s not the worst-case scenario,” she said.“The worst-case scenario is massive extinctions. So, it’s time to get serious.”Despite those warnings, May continued supporting the Liberals through numerous confidence votes over the following years.The political landscape changed on April 8, when Carney secured a parliamentary majority following the defection of five opposition MPs to the Liberal caucus.During Friday's budget debate, May accused the government of moving away from its previous environmental commitments.“This is the first budget in more than a decade that not only fails to live up to the challenge of the climate crisis, but actually repudiates the very idea of targets,” she said.May argued the government was ignoring the consequences of climate change while pursuing policies that would expand Canada's energy infrastructure.“Guess what has not changed?” she asked MPs.“Canada is still located on planet Earth. We are still subject to what happens in the planetary atmosphere with respect to physics, and the chemistry of the atmosphere, which we have already changed through our conduct.”May said her concerns extend beyond federal politics to the future facing younger generations.“As a grandmother of a two-year old I am not just worried but terrified for what kind of future our kids are going to have,” she said.Her remarks mark a sharp break with the Liberal government as she prepares to hand over the Green Party leadership later this month.
