leader of Green Party of Ontario being urged to stay connected to your roots, even Mike Shriner Another considers a race for the leadership of a provincial political party.
Shriner has been gave by a group of Ontario Liberals who released an open letter asking him to consider leaving the Green Party of Ontario and entering the race to lead the Liberals, as the party seeks to rebuild its brand after twice losing the election .
While Shriner prepares to begin an informal listening tour, speaking with Liberals, Greens and constituents in his Guelph riding, a prominent Green Party member suggested he should be kept on.
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federal Green Party leader Elizabeth MayThose who called Shriner a good friend offered their thoughts on whether Shriner should make the liberal jump.
“She needs to make the right decisions and have a great caucus of Green Party members in Queens Park because Ontario needs her to fight what Ford is doing to the Greenbelt, to fight real climate action, To fight for what the Liberals think is adequate climate policy,” May told reporters in Ottawa.
“That ain’t Mike’s party, that ain’t my party.”
In an interview with Global News, Shriner denied any back-channel talks with the Ontario Liberals, but said he had been urged since the June election to join a major political party with a strong electoral history resulting in a landslide victory. Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives.
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“People have been coming up to me for the last six months, telling me, ‘You should consider running for Liberal or NDP leader,’ and I’m saying no.”
While initially unconvinced, Shriner’s stance seemed to soften after receiving letters from a group of former Liberal cabinet ministers, one-time leadership candidates and a sitting Liberal MPP asking him to consider the unprecedented move Was.
“Know what I think? I read from the letter, that at least a group of liberals are envisioning a new Liberal Party and are inviting me to be part of that conversation,” Schreiner told Global News. told.
“I felt like I owe it to people to at least consult and at least have a conversation about, you know, how we can do politics differently.”
When asked about his personal political ambitions and whether he aims to become premier, Schreiner said he is motivated by a desire to advance a green agenda.
“My personal ambition is to really advance the issues I care about,” Schreiner said. “Obviously forming a government would be the most aggressive way to advance that agenda.
“And so I definitely think about that when I think about, you know, what kind of Ontario I want to live in.”
The letter continues to divide Liberal insiders
The open letter to Schreiner continues to draw disdain from Liberal Party insiders who expressed concern that the request could tarnish the party brand.
Liberal strategist Sharan Kaur said, “We are handing the NDP and Doug Ford a totally wrapped present, where (we) are such a split internally as to what liberalism means to us that we are swinging from one direction to the other.” shifted in direction. ,
“And the idea that they are trying to draft him in as a kind of savior to save the party as leader has put everybody off.”
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Kate Graham, a two-time Ontario Liberal candidate and one of the letter’s signatories, does not believe Kaur’s view is a “fair criticism” of the proposal.
“The Ontario Liberals have had two really tough elections. I ran into both of them. It was very difficult, Graham said, especially looking into 2022, given low voter turnout and a large mandate to the Ford government. “So we need to do something dramatic.”
“Mike has built a very grassroots party. They’ve been able to do a lot with a little. We need to be able to do those things now,” Graham said.
While Shriner didn’t offer a time frame for making a decision, Graham says the liberals who signed the letter have little idea of what will happen next.
“I don’t know how this movie is going to end.”
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