Greens celebrate 'tremendous result' in P.E.I.
The Green Party candidates didn't win any seats on P.E.I. in the federal election Monday, but they still feel they have a lot to celebrate.
"The Greens are killing it in Atlantic Canada. What a tremendous result," said Charlottetown candidate Darcie Lanthier.
The Greens placed second in two of the Island's four ridings, Lanthier in Charlottetown and Anna Keenan in Malpeque. The party more than tripled its vote total from 2015. The Greens also picked up a seat in New Brunswick.
Lanthier secured 4,458 votes in Charlottetown, about 23 per cent of the vote. Kennan received 6,103 votes in Malpeque, about 27 per cent of those who voted in the riding.
Keenan said while the Greens did not have electoral success on P.E.I., they did have success in having some of their ideas adopted.
"[Liberal] Wayne [Easter] realized he was up against somebody who was pushing for climate change action, and we saw him throughout the campaign make stronger and stronger commitments," said Keenan.
"The goal of the Green Party is to have influence. We're not in this just to gain power. We want to see our ideas adopted."
Keenan said she is planning to run again in the next federal election, and she said she believes the party still has lots of room for growth.
"The challenge is not a lack of support for Green ideas. The challenge is being a first-time candidate in a growing party," she said.
The challenges of running in a larger, federal riding, are different than running in a provincial election, where the Green Party had success earlier this year, she said.
But she added the Greens learned a lot about how to reach people over that larger geographic area, and the party will do better next time.
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