Green Party leader Mike Schriener knows he is not likely to be the next premier of Ontario, but says there are plenty of benefits to being voted as the province’s first Green member of provincial parliament.
“I don’t see us going from zero seats to forming government, but I think I can be a very strong voice for Guelph as one of the opposition leaders at Queen’s Park — especially if it’s a minority government,” said Schriener.
The Green Party leader held a town hall discussion Tuesday evening at 10C to kick of his Green Vision Tour, which will include 20 stops across Ontario before the end of March.
Counting last night's town hall, Schreiner will hold three of those stops in Guelph.
In his role as Green Party leader, Schreiner has obligations to support the party’s candidates in other ridings, but said his number one priority is becomeing the elected member of provincial parliament for Guelph.
Being a voice for all of the people in Ontario comes second for Schreiner, with being a good parliamentarian ranking third.
“My fourth priority is to build the Green Party in Ontaio, so I would say that is my lowest priority. I think if you talk to the leaders of the other three status quo parties, their order would probably be the opposite of that,” said Schreiner.
Looking forward to the June 7 election, Schreiner anticipates the Liberal vote will go down in Guelph.
“That’s nothing to say about the local candidate,” said Schriener. “There’s just a lot of people in Ontario that don’t want to vote Liberal in this election and those voters are looking for another place to park their vote.”
Schreiner knows some of those votes will swing toward the Conservatives, but he offers voting Green as an alternative.
“Those people who are dissatisfied with the current government can support a progressive voice who is a strong voice for Guelph — and those progressive conservatives who don’t like the direction their party is going have a strong, progressive voice who is going to be a strong voice for Guelph, as well,” said Schreiner.
The upcoming provincial election will be Schreiner’s fourth time standing as a Green Party candidate, third as leader and second in the riding of Guelph.
In 2014, Schreiner was 1,002 votes shy of placing second in the Guelph riding, behind then-Ontario PC candidate Anthony MacDonald. Liberal incumbent Liz Sandals had more than double the votes of Schriener when she took that election.
With Sandals not running for re-election and a new crop of candidates across all of the other parties, Schreiner sees an opportunity to become Guelph’s next MPP and Ontario’s first elected Green.
“I know I have to work hard for that. I am under no allusions at that, but I wouldn’t want it any other way,” he said.
Schreiner guesses he has knocked on more doors in Guelph than any other candidate and said he has been at the forefront of a number of issues at the local and provincial levels, showing an ability to work with the other parties.
“Here in Guelph during the last election, I was able to get all four parties together to do a news conference to protect Guelph’s water. I was able to get all four parties to agree to get big money out of politics — so I have shown an ability to work with every party to move through policies that benefit people and would benefit Guelph,” said Schreiner.
“As MPP I wil just have more opportunities to do that than as a political leader without a seat,” he added.
Tuesday’s open house attracted about 75 people in the shared event space at 10C, with another 1,000 people following the web cast.
The evening’s town hall talk was split into three subject areas: jobs, people and planet.
“Those are the issues that people want me to fight for provincially and those are the exact same issues people in Guelph want me to fight for,” said Schreiner.
