Green MP Mike Morrice ‘disappointed with party infighting’ but has no plans to walk
Green Party MP Mike Morrice says he is « disappointed » by the infighting within his party, but he does not intend to sit in the House of Commons as an independent MP.
Morrice, who represents the riding of Kitchener Center in southern Ontario and was first elected in 2021, said in a statement to CBC News on Monday that he was focused on his constituents and that he planned to « continue to put them first ».
“While I am disappointed with the internal squabbles within the party, I still believe that it is as a Green MP that I am best placed to defend my constituency priorities and I have no intention of leaving the With the leadership contest underway and a slate of qualified candidates running, I am hopeful for the continued renewal of the party,” he said in a statement.
“The Green Party has challenges ahead, including resolving systemic issues to keep staff and volunteers safe, restoring financial stability and regaining the trust of members,” he added.
« With the existential threat of the climate crisis, I believe the party and the new leader should also focus on the issues that matter most to Canadians – we have no time to waste. »
Party chairman resigns
The party has faced infighting since before the 2021 federal election. Annamie Paul resigned as leader in the days after the election and cited internal party politics which included calls for a vote of confidence and leadership review during the campaign.
In December 2021, the party said it was looking for ways to cut costs to avoid insolvency, which potentially included closing its Ottawa headquarters.
Earlier this month, on September 3, at an online event hosted by the party, a presentation slide featuring interim leader Amita Kuttner misinterpreted the party leader, a group that includes MPs said. current, leadership candidates and Kuttner. Kuttner, 30, is non-binary and uses the pronounsils.
The « solidarity statement » dated September 6 said Kuttner was « deeply distressing » to the acting leader and party members and that it was « not a slip of the tongue ».
Kuttner’s bad sex « was just the latest in a number of similar patterns of behavior that Kuttner faced throughout his tenure, » the Sept. 6 statement said.
“When such incidents are repeated, they form a pattern of harassment that we, the co-signers, will not tolerate, regardless of intent,” the statement read. « This cannot happen again. »
The statement also said it appreciated the immediate apologies from Green Party Chair Lorraine Rekmans and leadership contest co-chair Natalie Odd and that they were not responsible for Kuttner’s mistake.
Then over the weekend, Rekmans announced that she was resigning from the party.
In the resignation letter, Rekmans, the party’s first indigenous chairwoman, described her tenure as party chairwoman as « turbulent ». She said she had hoped to help the party ‘rise from the ashes’ after the 2021 federal election and that at the start of the leadership race she felt challenged by the leadership candidates and the acting leader that her « governance as president had no effect. »
“I am sensitive to these criticisms which sound like accusations of failure,” Rekmans said.
« We were about to do something big. Now I see that, for me, the dream is dead. »
‘A pretty serious threat’
On Sunday, it was revealed that a staff member from Morrice’s office had sent a letter to the party’s federal council.
In the letter, Morrice and former leader and current MP for Saanich—Gulf Islands Elizabeth May warned that they were both “ready to leave the party and sit as independents” if the party chose to suspend the leadership race or shut down the party’s headquarters in Ottawa. May and Morrice’s letter said doing either « would cause irreversible damage to the party. »
Rekmans confirmed that several advisers received an email from Morrice’s staff and called it a « pretty serious threat. »
« I really think this is a serious breach of [party] rules,” Rekmans said.
All of this is taking place as the party searches for a new leader. There are six candidates, four of whom are running as dual candidates so they will co-lead the party if they win.
The leadership candidates are:
- Sarah Gabrielle Baron.
- Simon Gnocchini-Messier.
- May with Jonathan Pedneault.
- Anna Keenan and Chad Walcott.
In a joint statement Monday, Keenan and Walcott said an internal investigation into what happened to Kuttner must take place, that « our party needs to get its own house in order, » but they also want to « focus our energy on the external issues that matter to Canadians.”
In an interview, Pedneault said the Green Party is « much bigger than any of the leadership candidates, than any president, and then the two MPs. It’s full of members who have kept this party going. life through many crises ».