Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner is staying on as Green party leader.
He announced Tuesday morning that he won’t be moving to the Liberal party – something he was urged to do by a number of high-ranking Liberal party members through an open letter publicly released in late January. That letter encouraged Schreiner to run for the party’s leadership.
“I’ve taken the time to listen, consult my constituents in Guelph and people across Ontario to talk about a better way forward,” Schreiner said in a news release. “I’ve asked myself and others how I can best make a positive difference in building the Ontario we truly want.
“The answer for me is as the leader of the Ontario Green Party.”
A one-page letter addressed to Schreiner was released on social media from 40 signees, including current MPPs, cabinet ministers past and present, volunteers and riding association presidents.
It also includes Liz Sandals, the three-term Guelph MPP who retired ahead of the 2018 election, the riding Schreiner won.
"One of the things I did hear a lot from people in Guelph was that they're proud of the fact that they elected Ontario's first Green MPP," he told GuelphToday.
"It really kind of sets Guelph apart and makes it a special place that we all know that it is, and part of my decision was to honour that key fact from my constituents."
He added putting the announcement out there before Tuesday's Question Period at Queen's Park was important.
"Ontarians are troubled by the Ford government’s abandonment of environmental and economic standards including their attack upon the Greenbelt, conservation authorities, municipal management of development and more. They are worried about the increasing privatization of our healthcare system," the letter reads. "Ontarians are demanding something better.”
There is much unfinished business to take on as Green leader, Schreiner said in the release.
“People who sincerely want a strong progressive movement to push back against the Ford government’s attack on our public healthcare system; his scheme to pave over our Greenbelt, farmland and wetlands; and his utter disregard for climate action, affordable housing, and fighting for our most vulnerable neighbours living in legislative poverty.”
