After making history by leading his party to official Opposition status in P.E.I.鈥檚 provincial election Tuesday night, Green Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker believes his party鈥檚 success can be matched on the federal level in October.
The day after the election that saw the Greens win eight seats to form the Official Opposition to the Progressive Conservatives鈥� minority government 鈥� Bevan-Baker said he thinks it鈥檚 possible for the Greens鈥� success in P.E.I. to translate across the country ahead of the upcoming federal election.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a real disillusionment with conventional politics and unimaginative politicians,鈥� he told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning in a phone interview from Charlottetown early Tuesday. 鈥淚 think the Green Party, at least on Prince Edward Island, had a real opportunity to be a different voice and Islanders went for that. They really embraced that. I think the same is possible on the national scene.鈥�
The 56-year-old leader acknowledged that the dynamics are 鈥渆ntirely different鈥� in a federal election compared to a provincial race in Canada鈥檚 smallest province, but he said federal Green Party Leader Elizabeth May鈥檚 leadership and the quality of the candidates should give them a good chance.
鈥淚 think there鈥檚 no reason鈥� that the Green Party couldn鈥檛 emulate what we have done today on the national scale in October,鈥� he said.
Bevan-Baker also said attitudes about the Greens鈥� ability to govern are changing.
鈥淚 think one of the big reasons that we did so well last night is that we鈥檝e demonstrated to Islanders that we are competent legislators. We know the issues, we can knowledgeably talk to them,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e gone way past that misconception that we鈥檙e a single-issue party.鈥�
P.E.I.鈥檚 Green Party enjoyed a surge of popularity in the polls ahead of the election before winning enough votes to form the official Opposition. It will be the first time any Green Party has obtained official Opposition status in Canadian history.
The Tories, led by premier-designate Dennis King, won a minority government with 12 seats. Former Premier Wade MacLauchlan鈥檚 incumbent Liberals dropped to third-party status after holding on to six seats.
Unlike Alberta鈥檚 recent divisive election where the United Conservative Party and the NDP butted heads on most issues, Bevan-Baker said the Greens and the Tories on P.E.I. shared similar views on several platform policies. He said he鈥檚 looking forward to working with them in the future.
鈥淭here were a lot of parallels, a lot of overlap between our platform and their platform, so I think it鈥檚 not going to be difficult to find common ground on which to support each other,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think there鈥檚 absolutely an opportunity to work [together] when it comes to actual issues.鈥�
