Elizabeth May says she is staying on as leader of the Green Party of Canada and that the 20,000 members of the party will get another vote on the controversial endorsement of a movement seeking sanctions against Israel.
Earlier this month, the Green Party voted during a national convention in Ottawa to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. May had said afterwards that the vote occurred in a manner not in line with Green Party values. She also suggested she was considering stepping down as leader of the national party over the issue.
On Monday during a break from electoral reform committee meetings, May told the PNR she’s decided to stay on as leader.
She said that over a recent holiday, she considered her options, including stepping down.
“But on reflection, that was not the best thing for the party,” she said.
She said she met with the Party’s leadership and go them to call a special committee meeting to review the decision to support the controversial BDS, among others. She admitted she and the party made mistakes in its policy-implementation process and that led to only one per cent of the membership actually voting at that convention. She said the party used to allow its broader membership to ratify policies via email through “consensus-based decision-making” — something that was not done in this case.
“It accidentally turned into a winner-take-all vote,” she said, adding she’s asked the party’s shadow cabinet to come up with compromise resolutions for the special committee meeting.
While May said they won’t get all 20,000 members to vote, she hopes a larger amount will speak to the revised policies that will be up for debate.
“I’m happy to be continuing as leader of the Green Party,” May said, “and my top priority, as always, is to be the best MP I can.”