Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton is officially running to be leader of the New Brunswick Green Party.
Mitton first made clear her intention to seek the leadership in a video released on Sept. 9, and on Sept. 21 announced that her application had been accepted.
Mitton says she’s excited and nervous to take this next step in her political journey, but knows she won’t be taking it alone.
“ Obviously I’m sharing what my vision is. But I do want to hear what other people are seeing as their vision for the Green Party and their vision for New Brunswick, because politics is not a one-person endeavour. It takes a team, and frankly, it takes thousands and thousands of people.”
Listen to the audio below:
The current leader David Coon announced in June he would be stepping down. Mitton said the work he did to grow the party over his 14 years as leader has left the provincial Greens with a strong foundation to keep the party moving forward.
“ I think the party is in a good position where fundraising is better than ever, where candidate recruitment is already rolling, where we are really developing as a party and growing.”
First elected in an extremely tight 2018 race, Mitton has learned a lot over the years, particularly because of the unique position she found herself in with a party that had, at most, three sitting members.
“ And what that has meant is that I’ve been nowhere near what it’s like to be a government backbencher,” she said. “I’ve been standing up in the legislature every day to make statements, to ask questions, to really hold government to account. I’ve spoken to the media hundreds and hundreds of times. I’ve traveled the province and been able to listen to what is going on in communities across the province.”
And that experience has shaped her vision for the party and the province, despite the continuing and intertwining issues of inequality, climate change and health care.
“ A lot of these things, pretty much all of them, are based on policy choices, based on choices made by Liberals and Conservatives that have created problems,” she said. “But what gives me hope in politics is these results are because of choices that were made. That means we can make different choices, and that’s why I’m there, because I believe we can do better.”
As for her role within the party if elected leader, Mitton said she would continue Coon’s efforts to grow the party.
“ My job, as I see it, would be to be recruiting excellent candidates, to be travelling the province to reach out to people across the province, and really focus on having more Greens be elected in 2028 to join me in the Legislature and have an even stronger voice and hold the government to account, and potentially have a minority government.”
While the leadership race will keep her busy over the next couple of months, Mitton wants to assure her constituents that if she were to win, she wouldn’t stop fighting for them in the Legislature.
“Certainly there’d be more responsibility and more of a chance for me to have a platform to speak about the issues I see in Tantramar, in Strait Shores, and across the province.”
The Green Party confirmed there is another as-yet-unnamed candidate, who will be confirmed on Sept. 29 if their application is accepted. Online voting for members of the party opens on Nov. 21 and closes on Dec. 4. On Dec. 5, the party will hold its leadership convention in Fredericton, where there will be in-person voting and announcement of the results.
