Multiple sources have confirmed to Global Green News that Jonathan Pedneault, who just days ago resigned as co-leader of the Green Party of Canada following a catastrophic election, is preparing to leave the country. His sudden exit only deepens the questions surrounding the strange and top-down leadership arrangement engineered by Elizabeth May.
When May returned to the party’s helm in 2022, she insisted on bringing in Pedneault as her hand-picked co-leader—a candidate who had spent most of his adult life abroad and had no meaningful ties to Canada’s political or activist landscape. As many pointed out at the time, it was a bizarre choice for a party claiming to represent grassroots democracy and local engagement.
Now, after presiding over a campaign that saw the party’s national vote share collapse to just 1.2%—its lowest in 21 years—and failing to run candidates in more than 100 ridings, Pedneault is already skipping town. His rapid exit calls into question his commitment not only to the Green Party, but to Canadian politics as a whole.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth May is refusing to acknowledge the gravity of the party’s collapse. Rather than initiating a leadership race to replace Pedneault or appointing an interim co-leader, she is simply resuming sole leadership of the party—a position she once vowed never to return to. There is no timeline for transition, no democratic process underway, and no indication that the membership will be given a voice in what comes next.
For a party that claims to champion participatory democracy and intergenerational renewal, the message is clear: there will be no new leadership, no co-leader, and no power-sharing—just Elizabeth May, again, at the top.
May’s actions have frustrated many long-time members and candidates, some of whom have begun openly calling for her resignation and a generational reset. Instead, May is doubling down, placing herself once again at the center of Canadian politics while the party languishes on the margins.
As the Green Party enters a period of soul-searching, the sight of Pedneault boarding a plane while May consolidates power at home will not soon be forgotten.
