The Green Party of Canada is deep in debt, down to a single MP, and failed to run candidates in dozens of ridings in the most recent federal election. Yet party leader Elizabeth May is clinging to power and kindly asking members to dig into their wallets.
In a fundraising letter to supporters, May acknowledged the party owes $750,000, with $4,000 a month being burned in interest payments. The loan is due back next year. In the letter, she painted a dire picture of the party’s finances, said she had already terminated staff, cut pay for others and eliminated key positions like press secretary and fundraising director. In the email she referred to herself as a “volunteer” while omitting the fact that she collects an MP base salary of $210k plus benefits, pension and expenses. This salary is provided by taxpayers and she cannot exceed donation limits to political parties but she is hardly a volunteer.
May asked 750 people to contribute $1,000 each to eliminate the party’s debt—“a miracle,” she said, that would make the party “debt free tomorrow.” This would however still leave the party with no money to contest the next election with if it was called in the near future.
What exactly was that borrowed money used for?
The party failed to run a full slate of candidates in 2025—an historic low point. Dozens of ridings, including some where Greens had previously performed well, were left uncontested. Many nominations appeared rushed or parachuted in, and little effort was made to build riding associations or support local organizing. For all the borrowed funds, the result was getting kicked out of the debates for failing to run a full slate, getting the lowest vote share in 25 years and loosing all seats but one.
This decline stands in sharp contrast to earlier campaigns. In 2019, under May’s previous leadership, the party ran 338 candidates and won three seats, including in Fredericton and Nanaimo–Ladysmith. Even in the tumultuous 2021 campaign under Annamie Paul, the Greens still managed to field over 250 candidates—far more than in 2025. The 2025 campaign was both short and inexplicably disorganized, despite having borrowed three-quarters of a million dollars.
Who approved this disastrous campaign strategy?
What remains unclear is who authorized this level of borrowing, and for what. Was it May? The GPC Fund? The Federal Council? As leader, and one of the party’s most influential figures, May’s fingerprints are likely on all major decisions. Yet her fundraising letter offers no admission of responsibility—only a plea for members to give more.
There has been no transparency about what the $750,000 was actually spent on. No detailed breakdown has been released. No public accountability session has been held. And there is no plan, beyond begging members for more money, to explain how the party intends to recover.
Despite the catastrophic results, May shows no intention of stepping down—or even opening a leadership contest. Instead, she continues to portray herself as the party’s moral and political compass.
But how long can a political party survive when it’s run like a personal brand—and drowning in debt?
Green Party of Quebec leader Alex Tyrrell, a long-time critic of Elizabeth May’s leadership, offered a pointed remark:
“I hope Elizabeth is able to clear this debt before resigning so that the burden of interest payments and reimbursement doesn’t fall to the next leader and administration.”
