Megan Mitton, one of New Brunswick’s two provincial Green lawmakers, is entering the race to lead the opposition party.
“I’m even more certain now than when I was elected as MLA eight years ago that we need deep change in New Brunswick,” Mitton said Wednesday in a statement announcing her candidacy.
“I first got into politics because I felt the urgency to address the health-care and climate crises, and now more than ever, we need leaders who will act to safeguard the health and safety of New Brunswickers, and bring fairness and affordability to our economy.”
The only other Green member of legislature, David Coon, announced in June he would resign after more than a decade leading the party.
Coon is credited with raising the profile of the Green Party in the Maritime province, but the party has struggled to win seats after he won the party’s first seat in the legislature in 2014. The Greens won three seats in 2018 and held that number after the 2020 election.
In the 2024 election, the Greens won two seats, while the Progressive Conservatives won 16 and the Liberals won a majority government with 31 seats.
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Mitton said she has submitted her application to the party’s leadership committee and she expects to become a registered candidate once vetting is complete.
A spokesperson for Mitton did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
She’s the only person to step forward to contest the leadership ahead of a Sept. 12 deadline. The party plans to confirm registered contestants on Sept. 28.
The new Green leader will be announced at the party’s convention on Dec. 5 in Fredericton. The winner is expected to lead the Greens into the next general election, scheduled for October 2028.
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The New Brunswick Greens aren’t the only provincial party looking for a leader to challenge Premier Susan Holt and her Liberals.
The Official Opposition Progressive Conservatives will announce their next leader at the party’s convention in October.
Former provincial legislator Daniel Allain and current lawmaker Don Monahan are both vying for the PC leadership after former premier Blaine Higgs stepped down following his party’s loss in the 2024 election.
But is there really a climate crisis, Mitton? I was raised in the ‘90’s and into the 2000’s, when Global Warming was given the Climate Change makeover. Teachers talked about how the polar ice caps were going to melt, New York was going to be under 2 meters of water, and so forth. I never gave any thought of it until I read people saying the same thing in the 1970’s, and I realized we were fed the same stories and the dates kept getting pushed forward.
Now were are being told to turn our thermostat down to 17-18 degC during winter, and to buy an EV. I find this all funny as the same people pushing these expenses on us are also telling us to build data centres which powered by fossil fuel gas turbines. Car makers and other companies also continue to build machines that rust out or break down, so much industrial waste. So, it climate change really a crisis we all need to take seriously? Or is it just a crisis for working people to have to deal with while the rich continue their paths of waste?