Green Party of Ontario facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Green Party of Ontario Parti vert de l'Ontario
Active provincial party

Leader	Mike Schreiner
President	Ard Van Leeuwen
Deputy leaders	Aislinn Clancy Matt Richter
Founded	1983; 42 years ago (1983)
Headquarters	Suite 035, 67 Mowat Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Ideology	Green politics
Political position	Centre-left
Colours	Green
Seats in the Legislature	2 / 124
Political parties

The Green Party of Ontario (GPO) is a political party in Ontario, Canada. Its French name is Parti vert de l'Ontario. The party is currently led by Mike Schreiner. In 2018, Mike Schreiner made history by becoming the first Green Party member elected to the Ontario Legislative Assembly. This is like being elected to the provincial parliament.

The Green Party has grown over the years. In the 2007 provincial election, they gained a lot of support. They earned 8% of all the votes. Some of their candidates even came in second or third place in their local areas, called "ridings." A big moment happened in the 2018 election when Mike Schreiner was elected in the Guelph riding.

Records from Elections Ontario show the GPO has been active for a while. In the 1999 election, they had 58 candidates running. They became the fourth largest party in Ontario. By 2003, they had almost a full team, with 102 candidates out of 103 possible spots. They received 2.8% of the votes. The 2007 election was a big step for them. They had 107 candidates and received over 8% of the votes, which was about 355,000 people. This growth happened around the same time the Green Party of Canada was also gaining support. After 2007, their popularity went down a bit in the 2011 and 2014 elections. This was because of close races between other major parties. However, their support has increased since then. In the 2022 election, they received nearly 6% of the votes.

The Green Party's Journey in Ontario
What the Green Party Believes In
Green Party Leaders
Elected Green Members
Election Results
See also

The Green Party's Journey in Ontario

How the Green Party Started

The idea of caring for the environment really grew in the late 1960s. By the 1970s, this idea started to become important in politics and business. The world's first Green Party was formed in New Zealand. Later, the German Greens became part of their country's government.

In Canada, one of the first groups linked to the green movement was the Small Party. It was founded in the 1970s by Elizabeth May, who later became the leader of the Green Party of Canada.

By the early 1980s, the idea of organized Green politics became popular around the world. In 1983, the Green Party of Ontario was officially registered. They ran in their first election with nine candidates, getting about 5,300 votes. In the 1987 election, they ran nine candidates again, but got fewer votes. However, in 1990, they surprised many by getting 30,400 votes with 40 candidates.

The previous GPO logo

Frank de Jong's Leadership Years

The party really started to get organized in 1993. That's when Frank de Jong was chosen as their first official leader. He led the party in the 1995 provincial election. Even with a new leader, their support dropped that year.

Frank de Jong led the party through three elections. He helped build their support from less than one percent in the early 1990s to over 8% in the 2007 provincial election.

In the 1999 election, the party had 57 candidates. They received 0.70% of the votes. This was a big improvement from the previous election. The party also became more organized, adding a Deputy Leader and a "Shadow Cabinet." This is a group of people who speak for the party on different topics. Judy Greenwood-Speers was the first Deputy Leader.

The 2003 election was a big step forward for the Greens. They ran 102 candidates and received 2.82% of the votes. The GPO even finished ahead of the Ontario New Democratic Party in two ridings.

Frank de Jong announced he would step down as leader in 2009. A new leader was chosen later that year.

Growth and Breakthrough (2009-2018)

Around 2006, the party made big changes to how it was run. They created a larger Provincial Executive, which is like a main committee. They also added new roles to help the party run smoothly. These changes helped the party get ready for the October 2007 provincial election.

In the time leading up to the 2007 election, the Greens' support grew a lot. Even though they didn't elect anyone to the Ontario Legislative Assembly, their share of the popular vote increased to 8.1%. This was a big jump from the 2003 election. They even came in second place in one riding. Shane Jolley, a Green candidate, received more votes than any Green candidate in Canadian history at that time.

Frank de Jong (right), with his successor as GPO Leader, Mike Schreiner (left)

Frank de Jong resigned in 2009. He was replaced by Mike Schreiner, a business person from Toronto. Mike Schreiner was the only person running for leader. The Greens didn't win any seats in the 2011 and 2014 provincial elections. However, Mike Schreiner did get 19% of the votes in Guelph in 2014.

Results of the 2014 Ontario general election showing support for Green candidates by riding

Mike Schreiner's Historic Win in 2018

In the 2018 provincial election, Mike Schreiner led the party for the third time. The party's plan included creating green jobs, using clean energy, and looking into a "universal basic income." This is a program where everyone would get a regular payment to help with living costs. They also wanted to lower taxes for small businesses and add road tolls to pay for public transportation. For the first time, more than half of their candidates were women.

Even though Mike Schreiner was not included in the televised debates with other party leaders, he gained support. The Toronto Star newspaper said he was the best candidate in Guelph. The Guelph Mercury also supported him, giving ten reasons why people should vote for him.

Mike Schreiner's campaign was very successful. He won 45% of the votes in the Guelph riding. This made him the first Green Party Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in Ontario's history!

Expanding the Green Presence (2022-2023)

Mike Schreiner was re-elected in the 2022 provincial election. He was still the only Green candidate to win a seat. However, the party came very close to winning another seat in Parry Sound—Muskoka. Green candidate Matt Richter lost by only about 2,100 votes.

In 2023, Green deputy leader Aislinn Clancy was elected in a special election, called a "by-election," in Kitchener Centre. This doubled the number of Green representatives in the Legislature! Aislinn Clancy won almost 48% of the votes. This was a big win because the seat had been held by the Ontario New Democratic Party since 2018.

What the Green Party Believes In

The Green Party of Ontario shares ideas with Green parties around the world. While some people see them as a "left-wing" party, they actually combine ideas about protecting the environment and social fairness with support for free markets and businesses.

Some important members of the party have even come from other parties, like the more "centre-right" Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. This shows that the Green Party tries to bring together different ideas.

Under Frank de Jong, the GPO focused on policies that mixed ideas from both left and right-wing parties. He said the GPO likes policies that are "socially progressive, fiscally conservative, and environmentally aware." This means they support things like good education, health care, and social fairness. But they also support ideas like lower income taxes and less government control over businesses.

The Greens believe in "decentralization." This means they think local governments should have more control over things like schools, hospitals, and transportation. They believe local governments know best what their communities need. The party also stresses how different areas are connected, like how health is linked to the environment, or how the environment is linked to the economy.

Ideas on Taxes

The GPO suggests a concept called "green tax shifting." This means they want to lower taxes on things like income and businesses. Instead, they want to add new taxes on things that harm the environment, like carbon. They also propose a "land value taxation" system. This would replace the current property tax and would help stop cities from spreading out too much. A key idea for the GPO is "revenue neutrality." This means that any new taxes they add would be balanced by lowering other taxes.

This mix of ideas is different from other parties in Ontario. The Greens believe their tax system is fairer. They think it encourages businesses to be more efficient and responsible. Critics, however, worry that these taxes might affect people with lower incomes more.

The Greens have also supported tax breaks for small businesses. They have suggested charging for roads (like tolls) and parking to help pay for public transportation. They also support a "carbon fee-and-dividend" approach. This means polluters would be charged, and the money collected would be given back to citizens.

Ideas on Health

The Greens' health policies focus on preventing illness. They believe health is connected to things like organic farming, active ways of getting around (like walking or biking), and city planning. They want to ban certain pesticides and increase funding for health promotion.

For health care, they want to expand community care services. They also support clinics with different types of health professionals, like doctors, nurses, and dietitians. The GPO believes that preventing illness and using different care models can help reduce health care costs.

In their 2007 plan, the Green Party wanted to get rid of the Ontario Health Premium tax. In 2018, they suggested a big increase in funding for mental health services. This would be a step towards covering mental health care under OHIP+, Ontario's health insurance plan.

Ideas on Social Programs

The Green Party of Ontario wants to update social support systems for today's world. They strongly support a "universal Basic Income" for everyone in Ontario. This would give people financial security and also reduce complicated paperwork. In 2017, Ontario started a Basic Income pilot program, and the Greens wanted it to be used across the whole province.

Ideas on Education

During the 2007 provincial election, education was a big topic, especially funding for religious schools. The GPO believes the publicly funded Catholic school system should be combined with the public school system. They say this would save millions of dollars by avoiding duplicate costs.

Other ideas for education include letting local school boards decide more about funding. They also want to end standardized testing for students. They encourage programs like physical education, environmental education, and a required course in world religions. For college and university, the GPO suggests a limit on tuition fees and more funding for apprenticeship programs.

Ideas on Electoral Reform

The GPO strongly supports changing how elections work. They prefer a "Mixed-member proportional representation" system. This system would make sure that the number of seats a party gets in the government is close to the percentage of votes they received. This idea was suggested in 2007 but was not approved in a public vote.

Green Party Leaders

Picture	Name	Term Start	Term End	Notes
	Frank de Jong	1993	2009	First Leader, elected in 1993.
	Mike Schreiner	November 2009	Incumbent	Elected Leader in 2009. First leader to win a seat in the Ontario legislature (2018-present).

Elected Green Members

2018, 2022: Mike Schreiner, elected in Guelph
2023 by-election: Aislinn Clancy, elected in Kitchener Centre

Election Results

Election	Leader	# of Seats	Change +/−	# of Votes	% of Popular Vote	Standing	Legislative Role	Government
1985	N/A	0 / 125	New Party	5,345	0.14%	New Party	Not in Parliament	Progressive Conservative minority defeated, replaced by Liberal minority
1987		0 / 130		3,398	0.1%		Not in Parliament	Liberal majority
1990		0 / 130		30,097	0.75%		Not in Parliament	NDP majority
1995	Frank de Jong	0 / 130		14,108	0.34%		Not in Parliament	Progressive Conservative majority
1999		0 / 103		30,749	0.79%		Not in Parliament	Progressive Conservative majority
2003		0 / 103		126,651	2.82%		Not in Parliament	Liberal majority
2007		0 / 107		354,897	8.02%		Not in Parliament	Liberal majority
2011	Mike Schreiner	0 / 107		126,567	2.94%		Not in Parliament	Liberal minority
2014		0 / 107		233,269	4.84%		Not in Parliament	Liberal majority
2018		1 / 124	1	264,094	4.64%	4th	No status	Progressive Conservative majority
2022		1 / 124		276,704	5.98%	4th	No status	Progressive Conservative majority