Former Green Party leader Elizabeth May has won the leadership race..“I’ve seen too much stuff in the media on how we’re a party divided and how we can’t get our act together,” said May in a Saturday speech. .“I challenge anyone here to remember any other party that ever ran a leadership race where everybody built the other candidates up, supported each other, built a team.” .May was running on a joint ticket with a shared platform with human rights activist Jonathan Pedneault. They vowed to introduce a constitutional amendment to allow the Greens to have co-leaders. .May won the Green leadership race on the sixth ballot with 60.2% of the vote, beating out former candidate Anna Keenan who received 39.8%. Pedneault came in third place, former Quebec Green candidate Chad Walcott was in fourth, former Green candidate Simon Gnocchini-Messier was in fifth, and former independent candidate Sarah Gabrielle Baron was sixth. .May said it is difficult to put into words what it means to take the stage as the next Green leader. She joked about Pedneault being the youngest candidate in the race and her being the oldest. .The Green leader went on to say co-leadership “means a different model for leadership that emphasizes that Greens do things differently.” She said Pedneault and her believe their values are better reflected in co-leadership. .May said she remembers being elected Green leader in 2006 and the party having fewer members. Party members believed they would never win a seat until first past the post was removed, but she won one in 2011. .She called herself “a very humble and grateful representative of the people of Saanich-Gulf Islands.” She said it is time for change. .Pedneault said there is much to do to cultivate and rebuild trust within the party. .“The odds do appear to be against us,” he said. .“But that’s a story that most Canadians will be familiar with.” .Pedneault said the odds continue to be against people in many ways. He added Canada is a place where "small can mean mighty.".May concluded by saying the Greens will become a party to earn the trust and faith of Canadians. .“We’re going to give Canadians a reason to believe that democracy works,” she said. .May started to prepare to run for the Green leadership in July. .READ MORE: Former Green leader Elizabeth May to join party's leadership race.She began collecting the required signatures from party members to apply as a candidate in the race ahead of the August deadline. .She had stepped down as Green leader after the 2019 Canadian election and was replaced by former leader Annamie Paul. Paul resigned after the 2021 election after failing to win a seat in Toronto Centre.
