Green party’s Elizabeth May appears to have mastered the media workings on Parliament Hill

As a Member of Parliament, Elizabeth May is just one of 308 individuals - a diminutive voice equal to just 0.3 per cent of all the members in the lower chamber.

Given her lot in Parliament, the Green Party leader deserves credit for the amount of publicity she's garnered during the first sitting of the House of Commons under the new government.

May, who is not entitled to be a member of any committee, has seemingly become a "go-to" person for the Ottawa press gallery.

On opening day during the seat assignments, May was given a seat at the back of the House. She took it in stride with a widely retweeted tweet: "There's (sic) no bad seats in the House," she wrote. "32 years ago my seat was Bob Rae's. He just joked that in 32 years I could be where he is now!"

And, May has done well in gaining press not only on environmental policy but on a broad range of issues.

After the Speech from the Throne, she was interviewed by CBC even before interim Liberal leader Bob Rae.

She was given airtime on CTV's Power Play for not helping the Tories fast track their mega-trial bill.

"Fundamentally changing the Criminal Code to undermine some of what I regard as fundamental principles of justice over centuries would in my view require more hearings," she said.

May was featured in several newspapers for being the lone dissenting voice against the mission in Libya.

"We'll be opposing the extension of the mission in Libya. It has shifted from a responsibility to protect doctrine, a responsibility to protect civilians. It's shifted to deposing Gadhafi as a goal. This was supposed to be about humanitarian responsibility to protect people."

And in a widely covered press conference Wednesday, May called on Environment Minister Peter Kent to reverse job cuts in his department she says are disproportionately targeting climate change researchers.

May has been masterful in amplifying her voice in Ottawa. If she can keep it up, it will bode well for her re-election in 2015 and for the future of the Green party.

It's been a good session for Elizabeth May.

(Reuters Photo)