The Green Party of Canada has elected former MP Mike Morrice to lead the party — the sole candidate running in the leadership race.
Morrice served as the MP for Kitchener Centre from 2021 to 2025, but lost his seat to Conservative MP Kelly DeRidder in the last federal election by fewer than 400 votes.
Nira Dookeran withdrew from the Green leadership race in September for “personal and family reasons,” but the party’s constitution still requires a vote, even when only one leadership candidate remains.
Morrice said in a video posted on social media on Saturday night that there is a renewed energy in the party to make life more affordable for Canadians while taking on what he called “the oil and gas giants.”
“Tonight is the start of all of that, and I’m so excited for it,” he said.
Outgoing leader Elizabeth May said in her own video Morrice has worked very hard for his community, and that his election is “a dream come true.”
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“Thank goodness the party is in good shape,” May said. “I pass the torch to you fully confident that there’s a great team, that we don’t have any debt, that we have supporters from coast to coast to coast.”
May is the sole Green MP in the House of Commons.
In an interview with The Canadian Press earlier in the fall, Morrice said he hopes to win back his seat, but that he doesn’t plan to run in any of the six pending byelections.
“The plan is to win back Kitchener Centre at the first opportunity, recognizing how important it is to have the leader of the party in the House of Commons,” Morrice said in the interview.
“And for my community, how much more of a platform I hope to give folks in Kitchener Centre to hopefully be back in the House of Commons as leader of the party.”
Morrice takes over the Greens as the federal government claws back many of the emissions-reduction measures implemented by former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
In a video in June, Prime Minister Mark Carney said the Trudeau government’s plan was too expensive and divisive and “not sustainable over the long term,” while acknowledging Canada’s emissions will rise under his plan.
“I’m making clear that, as leader, I think we need to be really focused on how life has gotten more expensive for most people in this country, but it’s as a result of this continued wealth transfer we’re seeing from regular folks to the billionaire class,” Morrice said earlier in the fall.
— With files from Nick Murray
© 2026 The Canadian Press
