Elizabeth May slams snap election call at Halifax Green rally

The leader of Canada's Green Party had some strong words for Nova Scotia's Progressive Conservatives while joining her provincial counterpart on the campaign trail.

Elizabeth May was in Halifax Saturday to support the Nova Scotia Green Party in the final days of the provincial election campaign.

She criticized PC Leader Tim Houston for calling a snap election this fall after the Tories passed legislation in 2021 that gave Nova Scotia fixed election dates every four years.

"Shame on you," May said. "You claim you're doing it for Nova Scotians, you're doing it for you."

Nova Scotians weren't supposed to be going to the polls until July 15, 2025. The Progressive Conservatives already held a majority in the Legislature and polls suggest the party holds a commanding lead heading into Tuesday's vote.

The snap election left the Nova Scotia Greens scrambling to prepare for the campaign. The party only put forward candidates in 23 of the province's 55 electoral districts.

"Certainly a snap election really has really been a challenge for the Green Party of Nova Scotia," said Anthony Edmonds, who leads the Greens in Nova Scotia. 

"It's no secret that snap elections do benefit incumbents," he said. 

Edmonds said several of the Green candidates are running in an election for the first time. He said it's been a learning experience for many of them and the party will be better positioned in future because of it.

The Greens have never won a seat in Nova Scotia's Legislature, but Edmonds said he's working to change that this year.

"For me, the last couple of days [of the campaign], I think I'm going to be laser focused on my own district of Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank where I'm hoping to make a breakthrough," he said.

Few federal leaders on N.S. campaign trail

May is only the second federal party leader to make an appearance on the Nova Scotia campaign trail after Jagmeet Singh supported NDP leader Claudia Chender earlier this month.

The leaders of the Progressive Conservative and Liberal parties previously said they wouldn't be seeking help from outside the province. 

"It says a lot about what Premier Houston thinks will help him secure a bigger majority that he is campaigning against Justin Trudeau. His attacks on Zach Churchill seem all about glomming them together," May said. 

Edmonds said part of the reason he wanted May's support on the campaign trail was to highlight the importance of collaboration between provincial and federal governments.

"At the end of the day, Nova Scotians don't care whose responsibility it is, they just want to see a price on carbon, they want to see action on health care, they want to see action on housing," he said.