Green Party of Prince Edward Island Leader Peter Bevan-Baker has made quite a political turnaround.
“I’d run in quite a few elections, with spectacular lack of success, for 25 years,” said the Scottish-born former dentist, who became the PEI Green Party’s first-ever MLA, 3 years go.
He’s since been joined by a second Green MLA, Hannah Bell.
His party has made stunning gains in popularity.
READ: On Prince Edward Island, a spot where nobody desires to be the mayor
Two years ago, the Greens had the support of nine per cent of Islanders. By last 12 months, they’d risen to 18 per cent, before bounding to 38 per cent this fall, topping all other parties, including the governing Liberals.
Bevan-Baker’s natural, poised manner has made him the most well-liked leader on the Island.
He insists he’s driven by a desire to enhance Canada’s smallest province, not by personal ambition.
“This will probably be an accidental premiership, if it happens,” he said.
Conditions for Green growth have been perfect.
The Liberals, currently led by Premier Wade McLaughlin, have been in power for 11 years. Some voters consider they’ve gone stale.
The Progressive Conservatives are affected by leadership problems, and the Recent Democrats have never gained traction on the Island.
Bevan-Baker thinks his party’s surge in popularity is real.
“Daily, I get people coming as much as me and saying, ‘You understand, I’ve been a Liberal all my life,’ or ‘I come from a lineage of Liberals, but this time I’m going to vote for you,’ or ‘I’m a worn out Tory,’” he said.
WATCH: N.B. Green Party calls for narrower scope in Climate Change Fund
Former Liberal MLA Cynthia King has converted to the Green Party.
“What our selections are have been the identical for a really very long time. So, we just occur to have a unique selection now,” she said.
Bell says party members are surprising even themselves.
“I don’t know if anyone saw this coming. It could have been a tremendous crystal ball to get that one right,” she said.
On the University of Prince Edward Island, political science professor Don Desserud says the shakeup is one other sign Canadians are breaking with convention.
“People getting fed up with the establishment and the usual, usual parties, election after election,” he said.
Bevan-Baker guarantees a Green government would make policies for the long-term good of PEI, no matter election cycles.
On the controversial issue of pesticides, he says he’d open discussions on latest ways of farming, without excessive pesticide use.
Now comes the hard part — converting those unprecedented polling numbers into enough seats to form Canada’s first Green government.
The PEI election could come as early as spring. Only then will it turn out to be clear how hard the winds of change are blowing.
