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Green leadership contender Elizabeth May says she never threatened to quit party

Sep 15, 2022 | 1:04 PM

OTTAWA — Elizabeth May says she never threatened to quit the Green Party and an email suggesting as much was a “mischaracterization” by a well-meaning staffer that has since been corrected.

According to an internal email obtained by The Canadian Press, the Green Party’s two MPs were ready to leave and sit as Independents if the current leadership race were to be suspended. 

The party’s federal council has been considering a pause in the leadership contest and closure of an Ottawa office space.

Green MP Mike Morrice’s office sent an email to top officials last Friday saying either move would cause “irreversible damage” and members choosing to sit as Independents.

Elizabeth May, the party’s former leader and only other sitting MP, says in an interview today that she did not threaten to quit the party.

Morrice said in a statement earlier this week he is not planning to leave the Greens. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published September 15, 2022.

David Fraser, The Canadian Press