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Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton will be acclaimed as the new leader of the New Brunswick Green Party in December.
The party announced Monday that Mitton is the only approved candidate running to succeed David Coon, who announced in June he would step down from the leadership.
A second candidate, Matt Toner, had been vetted and approved to run but decided to withdraw.
Mitton’s leadership must still be ratified at the party’s leadership convention scheduled for Dec. 5 in Fredericton.
“I would like to think my odds are pretty good against ‘none of the above,’” Mitton said, but “I won’t take it for granted at all.”
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Megan Mitton poised to take over leadership of N.B. Greens
The Tantramar MLA is the only candidate for party leadership and will be officially acclaimed after a vote by members in December.
Mitton was first elected in 2018, the year the Greens scored a historic breakthrough with three MLAs winning seats. She was re-elected in 2020 and 2024.
The party has not expanded its presence in that time, and lost one of its three seats, Kent North, in the last election.
“We clearly have staying power and have New Brunswickers who believe in what the Greens stand for, and see that we’re representing them,” Mitton said.
“Obviously, I want to grow the party and have even more seats in the legislature.”
She said with the Holt government reviewing whether to restart shale gas development in New Brunswick, it’s more obvious than ever that the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives have similar beliefs and that the Greens are the best alternative.
Before the 2024 provincial election, the New Brunswick Green Party held three seats in the legislature, including the leader, David Coon, and MLAs Kevin Arseneau and Mitton. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
Toner is a former deputy leader of the British Columbia Green Party who is now based in Fredericton.
“This was not just a token candidacy,” he said.
“I was quite serious about it. I had assembled my team. I had thoughts around the angles I would take.”
But the timing did not work out for personal reasons, including a death in his family, he said.
Toner said the party will be in “terrific hands” with Mitton as leader.